


Mr. Arc and Mrs. Ren

by Willun



Category: RWBY
Genre: Action & Romance, F/M, Family, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Team as Family, aged main, older main characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:27:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 30,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28475394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Willun/pseuds/Willun
Summary: Nora and Jaune are forced to confront long forgotten fears as a grim appears on the frontier. To protect their family Nora joins Jaune in one last mission. Sequel to Will you stay?
Relationships: Jaune Arc/Nora Valkyrie
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

Jaune rubbed his beard while he examined the wood. A callused finger ran along the edge of the crack before he finally shook his head. "Sorry Sal. It's better to just make a new one. This break goes along the whole back. I could make a replacement piece but the chair is so old, I might as well build the whole thing."

Sal gave a disappointed grunt. "I figured Jaune. Can you make three of them? The family is planning to visit us in the fall."

Jaune nodded and began to pull out his scroll to take pictures of the chair. One of the few things that worked out here on the frontier were the scrolls. They were designed for it. They couldn't make calls and only were able to detect and communicate nearby scrolls but for repairing chairs? The ability to take pictures was a godsend.

Jaune lowered the camera lens and patted the man's shoulder. "I'll try and get the order done in the next month or so."

Sal smiled. The older man looked outside to the darkening sky. He frowned. "Thanks Jaune. Sorry for keeping you so long. Were you going to stay the night in town? It's getting late."

Jaune shook his head. "Naw I'll head back home. The kids don't sleep if I'm not there to tuck them in."

Sal shook his head as if the idea was insane. "I guess a few wolves would be little trouble for an old mercenary. They are no grim, but wild animals can still be dangerous if you underestimate them. Be careful."

Jaune laughed. As time passed people began to forget exactly what grim used to be. A wolf was nothing to even the smallest grim. Seventeen years of the relative silence made them forget. Out of sight, out of mind. That wasn't a bad thing to Jaune's mind. "I'm not that old to worry about a few wild animals. Just let me know if you need them sooner than next month. I'll put it up higher into the queue."

The man in his late sixties bade Jaune goodbye. Jaune walked down the dirt street and looked around the village. Life seemed to stand still and somehow manage to move so fast. Outside of the small fence that marked the end of the village, Jaune moved south until he saw a new path to walk on. This one was carved out by Ren years ago for his family to go to town. But it went around a small stream.

Jaune did not even think of it when he used his aura to hop over the fifteen feet width of slow moving water. Little Mez and Syffy would be ready for bed by the time he got home. That left him and Nora taking turns reading to the children in a rotation. It was his turn to read to Mez.

Jaune's boots banged uselessly against the foot of the door as he took them off inside the cabin. The man smiled when he heard the kids scream for their dad. He squatted just in time to see both Mez and Syf run to and hug him. Mez was getting too big with his orange hair going deeper red as he aged. Syf clung to his side with her wet black hair a mop against his shoulder. Really as the years got on, they both began to look so much like a combination of Ren and Nora. "You two did not towel yourself enough. You're both still soaked."

Nora came out of the bathroom half haggard. She smiled at him and threw each child a towel. "I am just happy they put on clothes before they ran out. Go dry and get ready for bed." She ordered.

The kids whined for a moment before Jaune patted the kids forward. They both ran to their rooms to look for their books. Jaune stood back up and sighed at their antics. "Sorry I'm late. Sal had asked for a favor."

Nora nodded and walked over to wrap her arms around him. "Mmm. It's fine. We'll chat later. Syf will want to fight to stay awake now that you're home."

Jaune leaned into her neck and kissed her shoulder. "Sorry. Should we read to them together tonight?"

Nora smiled before she looked at her soaked shirt. "If you start, I'll clean up and come in."

Jaune kissed her one more time before he walked around the house to find Mez. The boy looked up when Jaune rapped his knuckles against the childs' door frame. "Come to Syf's room. We can read something together tonight."

Mez raised his book in a hopeful suggestion.

Jaune smiled at the boy. "We'll see. Come on."

-o-

Jaune woke up the next day to find Nora had been out of bed for hours. He looked at the time and sighed. He didn't mean to sleep in. _Bless her._ He thought.

Jaune quickly got his things to shower and spotted the note that told him she was taking both kids to school already and there was a plate in the oven for him. He grunted and ate the food quickly. He quickly washed his dish and the lone pot that was left on the stove before he put it away.

Outside he looked at the requests he needed to start today. He had only started making furniture for Nora because she needed it. Now that he had quit the local militia, he found a few more people were interested in getting new furniture from him. He started his unofficial business six months ago. For a village of seven hundred people. There sure was a high demand for furniture. He had been working non stop ever since. It was actually the sunshine that limited what he could and could not do. The wood needed to dry before he really worked on anything. The scraps he had left over were fine at first since they were cut out almost the year before because Mez said he wanted a room. Jaune had been preparing the wood and then some for the inevitable mistakes he would make.

Today was another day he would need to get more lumber. Even as he walked outside and lamented the torn up back yard. Jaune sighed at his mess. "And I give Mez flac for his room. I really need to make a shelter and workshop if I plan to keep doing this."

Carpentry was good money. Anything made in the village was vastly cheaper than importing something by air. Especially furniture.

Jaune started to clean the back rather than walk into the woods. There was still that sectioned off side for the kids to play. But Mez was as much on this side of the fence as the other. While wood shavings and chips would do nothing to the child's aura, having him run barefoot unsupervised around here never sat well with him.

Jaune knew that was the civilian upbringing in him whenever he scolded Mez. It did not matter that Syf broke her chair at four in a fit, or when Mez pouted and kicked his bed where the wooden leg moved and exploded when he was nearly seven. They were still just kids in his eyes.

Jaune grunted as he lifted up two beams that were in the middle of being cut to lengths for a project he had already finished. _To be fair, Syf and Mez have not acted out like that in over a year. Syf was good at copying her brother and they had been well behaved. Especially at school where they had to be separated from the other kids._

Jaune grimaced as he had to explain that to Syf. Mez more or less understood right away when he was five. Syf was much more rebellious when she found she could not go play with the other kids.

"You are cleaning now? I thought you had to start that table today."

Jaune grimaced. A family had ordered a table a few months ago and the wood seemed to have dried at last. Jaune was eager to get the giant slab out of the covered garage. It had to be laid flat and it took a lot of room.

"Morning Nora. I was thinking I need to find a spot to build an actual workshop. This is as bad as the kids rooms."

That pleased Nora. Her arms were wrapped in front of her and she hummed at him. "I'll let it slide. Thank you for cleaning." Nora leaned forward to peck his cheek and started back to the house. "I'll start something for lunch. I will make something nice."

Jaune smiled in appreciation as he watched Nora sashay to the house.

-o-

Nora's heart nearly burst from her chest at the repeated slam against the front door in the dead of night. Jaune was already out of the bed and running to it. Syf cried in alarm at the abrupt noise that woke her. Nora quickly dressed and ushered Mez into his sister's room for a moment while she walked to the door in her robe.

"You're sure?"

"Afraid so. We are about to have a meeting. The mayor is asking if you and Mrs. Ren would attend."

Nora swallowed and looked to the man outside. She was not prepared to see the messenger's scared face. She had only experienced this one time before. She touched the wall while her world tilted at the repressed memory. It had been so long since she felt some of those old fears come back. The clock said it was nearing three in the morning. The grim was close then to raise the alarm now.

Jaune looked over his shoulder to watch her carefully. Nora nodded even as she tried to rub her head. He quickly looked back to the messenger. "Of course we'll go Bose. We'll take the kids too. Do you think your wife Alliana could...?"

The man at the door nodded. "Yes. It's the least we could do."

Nora ignored Jaune's concerned look while she tried to keep her heart from racing out of her chest. She quickly walked into the kids room. Syf had calmed down and just looked to her mom. "Mez. Get you and your sister dressed. Grab a few pairs of clothes for the both of you just in case. We are going to town. Hurry." She turned back and walked past Jaune who gave her one look before he checked on the kids and walked outside.

Nora's thoughts were jumbled. Her hands shook as she tried in frustration to button her blouse. "Just. get in. there." Her voice quivered. A metal clad hand covered hers. It made her jump. Nora looked up to see Jaune's warm eyes. He had put on his stained dark green chest armor with his sword and sheath at his side. Worn green and gold gauntlets covered his hands. Those cold metal gloves seemed to bring the reality of it all back to her in full force.

"It's ok Nora. It will be ok." Jaune pulled her into his arms and she instantly choked back a sob.

She muffled into his chest. "It's happening again. Ren-. I don't know what I would do if. What will…" Nora's voice trembled as thoughts formed of unsaid fears.

Jaune held her and rocked her back and forth. "Let's go see. If it's too big we can advise them to leave. Ok?"

Nora just nodded. She closed her eyes and hugged him.

-o-

Nora tried her best to hold Syf's hand as they walked to regain her composure. The kids knew something was wrong when they left the house in the middle of the night. They knew something was horribly wrong with how their mommy tried not to cry.

In the dark moonless night, Jaune led the way with a flashlight alongside Bose. The two shared quiet words but she could feel whenever he looked over his shoulder to her and the kids.

Grim.

It was one thing, twenty years ago, to think of grim. Before Salem. Before the battle that put that monster to rest, before Nora even knew there were _gods_. Teams RWBY and JNR were some of the only people that knew that with Salem gone, the cycle of the grim pools moved back to their original purpose. The everyday grim Nora had grown accustomed to had disappeared.

It was so abrupt that huntsmen found themselves looking for actual jobs. Cities began to grow beyond the capitals. But for RWBY and JNR, that last warning of the gods stuck with them. It was why Jaune started his mercenary company. It was why RWBY scattered to the four corners of the world.

_This world was an experiment in emotion. What could be borne from love, hate, fear, anger. Any emotion made manifest._

The gods made humans have the ability to use aura to express their emotions. But so few actually had access to it. So where did all the unused and untapped emotions go? The very real answer were the grim pools. The gods had decided in their wisdom to balance the world one last time. So gone were the millions of grim that made the world uninhabitable. In their place, was something that Nora felt was far worse. Those same emotions still existed and they still had to go somewhere. All the gods accomplished in their balance was to make it so instead of hundreds of thousands of grim, we dealt with one grim that encompassed thousands grims worth of human emotion.

Nora was in awe of the first one. Bigger than any grim barring the whale Salem rode on but twice as fast. The first one that walked towards Vale shook the earth in its wake. It gave the huntsmen time to form a defense but so many people died defending the first grim. Since then, these new grim would appear every few years. Ren died the last time one appeared in their area.

She did not want to lose Jaune to the next one.

-o-

Nora watched anxiously while the kids were set to bed once more in their neighbors house. It didn't take long, they were both exhausted. Nora spared one last look at her children and followed Jaune out of the house and to the mayor's home. It was the third largest building in the village after the inn and the bar. Inside, the lights were on and men and women were in a heated debate.

"Sem! They're here!" Bose called as he walked in.

There was visible relief in the eyes of most of them. Nora watched them with an almost angry quirk to her eyebrow. So few people have really understood the difference with these new grim scarce as they are.

Jaune walked from the door to the center of the room. "What does it look like Sem?"

Sem stood in front of a table and rubbed his eyes. "One of our patrols was scouting the road east for a few families who were preparing to travel to Mistral. Sixty miles out along the Vein of Vale," Sem pointed to a river that cut across the map. "Our patrols found something moving in the forest. It was breaking through the forest making a path towards us. It's slow and it seems to stop for rest at night. At first they thought it was a class one, but they couldn't see above the forest until they were farther away."

Jaune nodded. "Who was the patrol that found it?"

"That would be us." Jaune and Nora looked to find a group of young men barely out of their teens. They shook unsteadily. They all seemed to have run through the night non stop to bring them the news. "We were moving along the main road when we first heard something hum loudly. At first we thought it was an airship. Just out of curiosity we moved around the ridge towards The Vein and found a path as wide as the river cut across the forest. When we got closer we spotted it tear through the forest. It was only after we got higher up one of the mountain paths did we spot it. The grim was four times as large as we thought. When it crossed the river we saw it easily walked across the bottom of the river only came up to hit the mid section. At least half as wide as the river."

Jaune nodded. "Did it make any sounds?"

One other man looked up. "Other than the droning we thought was the sound of a bullhead, nothing. It was coming in our direction. We're the closest settlement to it. We did a horse relay to get here and that was over twelve hours ago."

Jaune nodded. Nora and Jaune reached for each other's hand. "Sixty miles? What is that? Two days?"

Sim nodded and gestured to someone on his right. They quickly pulled up another map. "Two days. Maybe three before it arrives here. We need to evacuate the village. We have already sent a messenger by horseback. But it will still take a week to get to a settlement that would have access to a CCT never mind the possibility of an airport. Your family are the only aura users we have. I already made preparations for people to pack up as soon as I learned the news."

Sim waved several men and women to make preparations to move. Carriages take hours to organize for what they need. Sim looked at the map and decided on where they would escape to. "We'll go north. There is a settlement on the mountain pass. It would be difficult for a grim of that size to reach there."

"How long do you think it would take the caravan to reach it?"

Sim frowned and looked at Jaune apologetically. "A week and a half if we're lucky."

Jaune sighed. "I'll try and stall it. If it rests at night, I can try and lure it away towards here." Jaune pointed to the map where the river fed into a ravine. "Huntsman, when they come, could use the high ground to take it out. I don't know how many days I can give you to make the trip. But I would recommend everyone leaves in the morning."

Several people look to him in relief. Whatever debate had happened before Jaune and Nora arrived was closed when he volunteered. They all muttered a round of, "Thanks." When Jaune looked over to Nora her face was resolute.

"I'll be going with you."

Jaune nearly swore in front of the crowd. "You are not going Nora."

"Jaune, we both need to go to give them enough time." Her eyes were pleading. In that silent look she told him, ' _to give our kids enough time.'_

"Nora. I will be fine. I'll just pull it towards the ravine and escape." Jaune watched the fire in her eyes as she glared at him. They glistened. Jaune reached out for her before she batted his hand away.

"You don't stand a chance _with me_ much less without me. I'm going." Nora turned to Sim. "We'll give you that time." Nora grabbed Jaune's hand and pulled him out of the house.

Jaune seemed to want to continue to argue. "Nora, you don't even have a weapon anymore, how are you-" Jaune watched as Nora turned around and kissed him. In an eerie flash of a long forgotten memory, Jaune hugged her. This kiss.. too many things were said. It was a kiss of longing and a kiss that warned of regret. Jaune pulled away. "Nora. Don't do this."

Jaune held her close. He had never opened his heart to anyone before. Not until Nora. She simply whispered in his ear, "It's going to be ok right? Just draw the grim to the ravine and leave. We can do that."

Jaune allowed her arms to wrap around his shoulders and they both silently felt the weight of what they were about to do.

-o-

Dawn had given the couple enough light where they both had to prod each other to actually start the recording. Nora and Jaune sat next to each other and reached for each others' hands as Jaune clicked on the scroll. Nora blinked for a moment. "Hey Mez. Syf. Mommy and Daddy are going to be going away for a while. I love you two. Mez. I am so proud of you. You are such a smart little man and I know you will grow into a wonderful man like both of your fathers. Syffie." Nora sighed and leaned against Jaune. "You are my special little girl. I am trusting you to make sure Mez grows to be a proper man who keeps his clothes on ok?" Nora stopped and nearly buried her face into Jaune's shoulder.

Jaune lifted the scroll so only he was viewed on the screen. "Mez, Syf. I love you both. You are our world and there is nothing more we want than to keep you both safe. If you are watching this, we have died protecting you. Nothing is more important to us than you two. Grow strong. Aunt Ruby will be your guardian. Trust her and try not to give her too hard of a time. You will all be hurting for a while. But it will get better ok? Rely on each other. You two are family."

Nora took his hand with the scroll and pulled it back so she was back in frame. Her eyes stung as she murmured out, "Take care you two. We love you."

Jaune stopped the recording and let his arm slowly go to his side. He exhaled while he kept a firm arm around Nora's shoulders. Nora shuddered a breath as she refused to break.

Jaune knew they had to get going. He kissed Nora's forehead and moved his hand out from under her to pull out the memory card. "Thank you Bose."

Bose took it and safely put it in his scroll. He had stood to the side trying to be as invisible as possible for the couple's privacy but he patted his scroll as he looked up from it. "Any time. We'll have the kids towards the front of the caravan. No one in the village are aura users like you two. So we'll have to keep them in their own carriage. The last thing we want are any accidents."

Nora nodded thankfully. "I'll go wake them. Jaune? Did you need anything from the trading post before we go?"

Jaune looked around and shook his head. Both of their packs were full. Jaune checked his scroll that was now fastened to his chest rather than in his pocket. He looked to see Nora had hers strapped to the same place on her chest. They would need them ready to stay in contact in the forest.

Nora walked through Bose' house and into the living room where Syf and Mez laid sprawled on the couch. Amazingly, they had slept through all the noises of the village as families gathered a few supplies and food to take with them.

"Mez. Syf. It's time to get up." Nora gently rubbed both of their heads. The kids stirred and looked around in confusion at the couch they had slept on. "Come on let's get up." Nora gently pulled them out of bed as they both sleepily rubbed their eyes and faces.

Nora laughed at the expressions and reached to kiss their heads. "Mez. This is important so can you look at me?"

Mez looked up and began to become more alert. "Mom?"

"Me and your dad have to go somewhere for work. You are in charge of yourself and Syffie. The whole village is making a trip to the mountains ok? But that means you two are going to be traveling in your own cart. Do you remember why?"

Mez repeated the lesson that was drilled into him since he was a little child. "Because aura users can hurt people and not mean to."

Nora smiled and ran her hand over his cheek. "Smart man. You both will be ok. It may feel a little lonely on the trip. Do your best to keep you and your sister strong. Mr. Kage and Mrs. Kage will watch over you both and make sure you are eating properly until you get to the mountain village. Once there just hang tight. By the time you get there, we should be on our way to meet you ok?"

Mez nodded and took Syf's hand. "I'll watch her."

Nora smiled and looked at her daughter. "Did you hear that Syffie? Mez is in charge."

Syf hugged her mom. "Mommy, where are you going?"

Nora exhaled and did her best not to let anything escape her throat. "Just work sweetie. Jaune and I will see you both in two weeks or so. Okay? Think of it as a long trip through the forest."

Both kids nodded. Mez, bless him, already seemed to have understood a little what was going on as he went to the window and viewed villagers as they ran to and from their houses to several dozen wagons. Most families would have at least one out here. Their family was the only one he knew that didn't have a wagon or a horse. And that was because they could all use aura.

Mez gave a yip of alarm as he was lifted into the air. Jaune put the boy firmly against his hip. "Hey Mez. Did your mom already tell you what you should do on the trip?"

Mez nodded and hugged his father. "Yeah. You're coming back right?"

Jaune nearly hitched his voice. "We will. I promise."

Syf seemed to have been jealous of the hug as she was tugging on Jaune's leg. Jaune nearly rolled his eyes. "You are both getting too big for this you know." Jaune squatted and picked up the nearly seven year old girl. She rubbed her face in his beard. The emotions warred on his face as he thought it could be the last time she did that.

"Follow Mr. Kage. If you have any questions or need help look for him Mez." Jaune ordered as he set them back down.

Nora knelt next to the kids and hugged them closely. "There will never be enough time to tell you how much we love you both. We'll see you soon."

Nora and Jaune walked out the door to the cheers of the people who spotted them. Jaune and Nora felt themselves fall back into very old habits and waved at them before they both ran out of the village and into the forest.

-o-

Jaune was given three maps. One was the area the original scouts found the Grim. The second was a much larger one that included the ravine they were going to draw the grim to, the third was the one Jaune hoped he and Nora could use after it was all over. The one that could show them the way back to their children.

"Let's stop for a second Jaune."

Jaune slowed to a stop and looked over to Nora. "You need to check to be sure?"

Nora nodded as she dropped her backpack. They were miles away from the settlement. Plenty of room to not alarm the villagers and close enough where the grim may start to pick up their aura instead of the emotions from the village.

"Yeah. Better to warm up now. It's been a while since I've needed to pull on my aura." With that Nora for the first time in nearly nine years allowed her aura to flare to life. It tingled and burned her body. It was as if she suddenly had feeling in her limbs again. Nora inhaled and exhaled. Her aura flared and faded with every breath. She moved her hands in front of her and called on her semblance. Lightning arced from the ground to her hand. She focused and soon the trees were singed. Lightning licked around the ground and over Jaune's body. His own aura protected him from the raw uncontrolled energy.

When Nora opened her eyes. She smiled at the feeling she got. "This takes me back. Jaune can you?" She tilted her head to her shoulder.

Jaune walked up and placed his hand on her shoulder. His own semblance resonated with her aura. The lightning came back ten fold as it tore through trees and burnt the ground and foliage in a circle. "Thanks. Like getting back on a bicycle. I think I am good now."

Jaune pulled back his hand and looked towards the direction of the grim. He could almost imagine hearing the footsteps of the massive grim from where he stood. He shook that idea away from his head. The other hills would have prevented that possibility.

"It's about midday. A few more hours of daylight and we should find a place to make our stand." Jaune said as he gauged the sky.

Nora picked up her back pack. "Whatever you say captain."

She smiled at him.

Jaune watched as she led the way. He couldn't keep the playful grin off his face. "Just like a bike."

-o-

Nora inspected the flat level of land below them. They would use the river as a way for the grim to follow them towards the ravine. There wasn't anything they could use to slow it down. The forest would slow them down more than the rocky river edge ever could.

"I found it Nora. It's about fifteen miles west of us. I was worried we veered too far when I saw the river a few miles earlier than I expected."

"As long as we know it's coming this way, we should be fine." Nora sighed and rubbed her elbow and she looked over the battlefield they would use tomorrow morning. "I have some root soup running right now. It should be done in a bit."

Jaune walked up and moved his hands around her waist. "How are you holding up?"

Nora leaned against him. "I am just thinking of the kids. I really hope they will be ok on the trip."

Jaune nodded. "They are good kids Nora. You can trust them. Alliana had baby-sat the kids a few times. They will listen to her."

Nora nodded as she walked out of his grasp only to hold his hands and pull him back to the fire. "Sit down mister, I need my cushion."

Jaune laughed and gave her a look as he obediently followed directions. Nora sat between his legs and he resumed holding his arms around her midsection. "It feels nice being back on the hunt." He kept his voice positive.

Nora seemed to follow along. "It's nostalgic. In a good way. There have been so many times when it was just us three trying to figure out what we were going to eat for food when there was no settlement."

"Thanks a lot for that, map stealer."

Nora smiled and pulled his arms tighter against her. "You can never prove it." Nora leaned against him and sighed. "I really missed this…"

Jaune grunted. He was already drowsy and leaned into her hair to wake himself up. "What was that?"

Nora closed her eyes and sighed. "I really missed this. Being this positive. Just thinking things will always be ok." Jaune held her and kissed the top of her head. She sniffed for a second.

Jaune sighed in her ear.

"Life was just easier when I believed it. I- I remember how little of a deal I made it when Ren left. He was just part of the back up complement of huntsmen. He would just be gone for a few days. I was at home when he took off. I don't even think I said I loved him when he left."

Jaune blinked and simply held her. Quietly to herself, Nora shuddered a breath, "I don't think I ever told anyone that before."

The couple sat in the quiet as the fire slowly burned in a subtle crackle of wood. Eventually Jaune murmured, "He knew you loved him Nora. And I think he may have thought that it was not a big deal when he left." Jaune leaned his head against hers as she slowly nodded along. "It was really nice seeing you up beat today but you don't have to force it. We'll see this through and go home." Nora squeezed his arms that still hung around her.

The earth rumbled in beats before it stopped at the darkening sky. Jaune sighed. That wasn't his imagination. That _was_ the grim.

-o-

The sounds of the camp were quiet this late into the night. Mez knew what to expect when the caravan stopped to make camp. Even before Mrs. Kage told them, Mez and Syf had wandered the edges of the camp to stay out of the way. A few kids were confused why they couldn't play. When they got too close, like their parents showed them, Mez had him and his sister move their hands behind their backs and slowly backed away. He gave the kids a sorry look. A few of the older kids knew Mez and were a big help pulling the rest of the kids away while the camp made food.

Mez knew it would be a lonely trip. Only Mrs. Kage really approached them after the kids left. But he could tell this would be a little too much for his sister. Mez had one hand open with his aura in his hand. It lit the dark wagon.

Syf's black hair obstructed the book again. Mez wordlessly raised the book again in his already tired hand. Mez continued to read the book to his sister until she fell asleep in his lap. Mez wrapped the blanket around his sister and hugged her. Finally alone, Mez sniffed and cried to himself. "Please come back home."

A/N: Happy New Year! I had been thinking about writing a sequel to 'Will You Stay?', for a while. My new years resolution was to write and complete a story before I posted it. and this is that story. Having said that, I am still nit picking the hell out of it. I still like the setting and decided to expand on it with this one. I hope you all enjoy it! 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora and Jaune try and stall the grim as best as they can with rapidly burning aura and little time to recover.

Chapter 2

Nora felt the pull before Jaune. They stood up from their camp and looked over the hills. The animals have long since fled the area. The only sound was the running river and the _pull_ like a howling wind with no breeze. Jaune had only learned to feel for it when he was in his twenties, but Nora and Ren had known how to feel when grim were nearby since they were children.

"I feel it too." Jaune stood up from his crouch and checked his sword. It had been nearing late afternoon when the earth began to shake and another hour before they could see the massive grim loom over the forest as if walking through tall grass. It walked on four stout legs and a small mask that barely covered one eye before portions of the bone-like mask had spots on its muzzle and side of its face.

"It's still growing." Nora muttered. Grim stopped growing when the mask was fully formed. Seeing a mask where parts still did not connect meant it was still forming.

"That's not something I wanted to see. Nora get a good distance away down river like we planned. I'll try and draw it towards us and make it change course. There's just a few hours left until dusk."

Nora clicked her scroll that clipped to her chest. "Testing."

Jaune's scroll hissed at the exact same time echoing her voice. "Good."

Nora walked up and kissed him deeply. "You be careful Mister. Good Luck."

Jaune rubbed his neck as he started to walk out in the open. The grim's grumbling hum echoed off the mountain tops, he could see how that sounded like a bullhead. Down on the ground it was more like a rumbling droning sound.

"No time like the present." Jaune muttered. It would cross the river and right past him if he waited too long. Jaune inhaled and his aura illuminated his body. The beacon of aura made the grim turn its head. The grim was the shape of a calf. It walked on four thin legs. The grim rumbled loudly as it found him. Trees and earth were kicked into the air as it started to turn and run towards him. The grim was still miles away, but with its size, it felt eerie for it to turn its head and run towards him. At first glance it would look like the grim was slow. But Jaune already had a good idea how fast it was moving through the forest. A single stride was easily a few hundred meters. The closer it cut across the forest the closer it was running to a trap. Jaune eyed the forest just before the river bend.

" _Jaune."_ Nora warned him over the scroll.

"I just need him committed to following me. I am moving back once he gets over the ridge." He could not see the ridge himself. The forest covered it well. The only hint the grim was past the ridge was the sudden pause as its feet went down further into the forest than it had expected. It groaned in frustration as it slid down the ridge in a cloud of dust. Jaune took that as his signal as he cut off his aura and ran down the river bank. The grim roared behind him. Jaune celebrated they were this far into the basin, the grim would have to make a good effort to get out. That itself bought the village a day.

Once he got enough distance, Jaune waited for the cloud of dirt to settle. The grim thrashed for another half an hour before he was able to escape the slope and get its bearings. It found Jaune the second Jaune flared his aura. It droned and chewed through the forest until it walked out to the river bank. This river wasn't it as wide as the Vein was and that caused Jaune to grimace as the grim easily straddled the water. Now it was about trying to keep distance but not too far where the grim would try to cut across the forest instead of staying on the river bank.

Jaune scowled as it seemed to lose interest in him after the first three miles. Jaune sheathed his sword and gripped it by both hands. Metal clinked into position as the sheath locked with the sword and expanded another fourteen inches and an additional thirty pounds from the shield. The extended reach and weight would be more important than having a shield. He touched his scroll. "Nora! Get ready. I'm going to need you to strike me as soon as I make contact!"

Jaune let his aura spread across the air. Every step across the rocks was accompanied by a grunt along the river as he picked up speed. His sword started behind him but was already moving up in a large swing towards the grim's hide. The grim droned a large hum in the back of its throat as its eyes followed the glowing white light that ran towards its hooves.

Jaune followed the hoof as the grim's front two feet rose into the air. The grim's intent to stomp him was clear as its eyes tried to track him. "Nora now!" Jaune's aura lit to life the same moment an arc of lightning snapped to him from down the river bank. Jaune let Nora's semblance hit him. In a well-practiced move he channeled Nora's lightning into his sword and amplified it. The sword vibrated in heat and trapped electricity.

Jaune quickly used both hands to control the sword and jumped towards the grim. Once he found his target, Jaune threw the massive weapon. The sword sank into a space at the base of the grim's hoof. Jaune gripped his hand as he fell back to earth. The amplified lightning burst to the grim. It was only balanced on two legs. The sudden lurch from the attack made it lose its balance.

For the second time that day, the grim crumpled to the ground. Jaune landed hard and his legs quivered from the effort. He had used up so much aura already. But hopefully that would be enough to have the grim focus on him and not wander off again.

Jaune raised his hand towards the grim. While he would never have Pyrrha's semblance, even into adulthood, she taught him new lessons. Jaune pulled on his aura that was still embedded into the grim's hoof. His sword flew to him and snapped painfully into his palm.

" _Get out of there Jaune. It's starting to move again._ "

Jaune wheezed an "Alright."

Jaune did not stop moving until he was a half mile way from the grim. It's looming form was slow to get on its feet. It's own weight was its enemy as it slowly rolled up onto its knees and stood back up. It lashed its muzzled head back and forth before it firmly snorted. It stopped moving and knelt back down. Jaune looked at the sky and realized it was already dusk.

Why did it stop?

Jaune walked the rest of the way to Nora as she set a signal for him to follow. It was on his mind all the way to camp.

"Jaune!" Nora hugged him before she pulled back and inspected him briefly. "Did you notice it too?"

Jaune nodded. "I had to think about it. It has poor vision. It's why it stops moving at night."

Nora nodded. "I've picked up a few idea's while I was waiting for you too. Take a rest while I show you."

Jaune sank in front of the campfire with a painful groan. He pulled out a map and wished there was still moonlight so he could at least look at the river. "It's definitely following us now. But I have no idea how far we traveled."

Nora passed him a bowl of oatmeal. "Let me see. I was able to watch and get a better picture from back here."

Nora hummed as she traced the river. "We went past two bends and a double back. We should be right around here."

Jaune counted the miles. "From noon to dusk we moved around fourteen miles. Damn that thing moves fast. We'll be hitting the ravine faster than I would like. If not tomorrow, the day after. That won't be enough time."

Nora set her bowl on her lap and sighed. "If it's vision is bad then I have an idea. We can try to slow it down but I'm not sure if it's a good idea."

"What is it Nora?"

Nora scratched her ear and pointed to the forest line. "It hadn't rained in a while. The foliage is dry. We could use controlled fires to disorient it."

Jaune liked the idea. But shook his head. "Let's save that for the ravine. We may have to stay a little while longer. I'm sorry."

Nora smiled and spooned out another helping from the pot for Jaune. "I'm not complaining. We'll stay so long as it takes for Mez and Syf to make it to the new village."

Jaune reached for the bowl but cupped his hands under hers. He squeezed them gently before he took the bowl. Around a single spoon full, he frowned at the map. "That just leaves how we are going to slow it down tomorrow."

-o-

_Nora could feel the grim as its body loomed over her. Tucked under a cart, her seven year old self held her breath as the grim the size of a horse walked by. She nearly gasped at the hand that took hers'. Nora looked up expecting to see Ren._

_Jaune in his forest green armor and trimmed dark beard murmured gently. "It's ok. I'm here."_

Nora blinked her eyes awake. Her heart was pounding and her eyes blinked back tears. Memories jumbled together in unexpected ways and she didn't know what felt worst, the thought she might have seen Ren again, or the relief that it was Jaune saying it was going to be alright.

She looked down to see Jaune had his arm firmly around her waist as they had slept against a tree. His cloak covered them both to keep warm. She sighed out the tension and let her head fall against his shoulder. Her eyes stayed closed to try to get a little more rest. It would be dawn soon.

Some twenty minutes later Jaune kissed her hair. Nora immediately opened her eyes. She stood up slowly and stretched the stiffness out of her limbs. Jaune shared in her groans as they both stretched and looked around.

The grim's droning hum grew louder. It seemed it was getting impatient for the sun to rise. Jaune handed her a morning ration and rolled his cloak into his bag. Nora grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. No words needed to be said. They had a job to do.

Jaune and Nora moved closer to the grim in the early predawn hours. The grim's head turned left and right in the early morning sky. Jaune raised his hand to signal to stop. They were both silent as they observed the grim. Thirty agonizing minutes passed to allow the sun to dye the sky a hue of orange.

Jaune and Nora remained still. This early in the morning the forest was still just a dark mass of shadows. The grim snorted once and raised its head to the sky. It tilted back and forth before it turned its head towards them. The grim pulled out its front leg and the rock of the rivers edge cracked as it stood up.

"That's it then. Just like we planned it." Jaune held her hand and briefly kissed the back of it before he let go and moved out of the shadows. Jaune flashed his aura. It was enough for the grim who had been looking in their general direction to focus on him. It took three tentative steps to test the ground and started to walk along the river towards him.

Jaune watched the behemoth cover a hundred meters in a single stride. A few more seconds and it would be on him. Jaune poured aura into his sword and jumped into the river. He let the current carry him away from the grim but it was still gaining on him. Just as the river was beginning to reach another bend, Jaune shoved the blade into the bottom of the river he could reach before he let go. The blade was left behind in the sand bank.

Jaune grunted as he quickly made his way to the waters' edge. Nora pulled him out of the water and they both waited for the grim to get closer. Jaune felt more than saw as Nora sank to the ground to concentrate. "Jaune, go ahead and give it to me."

Jaune raised his hand and placed it on her head. His aura resonated with hers. The amplification was stronger than yesterday thanks to the direct contact.

Nora exhaled. "Ready when you make the call."

"Just a little bit further." Now that Jaune was a good distance away he could see the grim in its full massive glory. Three stalky oxen tails swished back and forth in agitation. Jaune noticed after he was finally able to stare at it. It's eyes were looking directly in front of it. As it got closer to Jaune's sword it moved faster. It was as if the grim finally found something to focus on. "It's vision is really poor." Jaune murmured. Four hundred yards outside of sensing aura apparently. The sword laid glowing at the bottom of the stream but the grim nearly had to be almost on top of it to actually see it. It went to raise its hoof to stop at the glowing aura in the water.

"Nora, go ahead start up." Jaune suffused her with more aura.

Lightning crackled around the couple. Ozone burned while Nora concentrated. She felt Jaunes' aura far ahead of them. His aura had become as familiar as her own over the last twenty years. "Just tell me when."

Jaune watched the Grim as it made several more steps to dig deeper. Its hooves were too big to reach between the rocks the sword was lodged into. "Now!"

The light flashed the water in front of the grim. The bolt of lightning struck Jaune's submerged sword. The grim groaned as its sensitive eyes were blinded. The sword glowed bright red and vibrated with aura. The water bubbled once before thousands of gallons of water evaporated into the grim. The behemoth roared and moved in an effort to clear its eyes. It whined in pain while it smothered its face against the ground, heedless of the up churned trees and river.

Jaune extended his hand. He felt the pull of the little aura that was still within his sword and called it back to his hand. He grunted as he could feel the heat sear through his gauntlet. Jaune gently tugged on Nora's shoulder urgently as he realized she hadn't moved. She leaned over heavily panting and wheezing. "Yeah. I'm good. That just took more out of me than I thought."

The grim was starting to shake out of the daze. Jaune dunked his sword once to cool it and sheathed it back on his hip. In one fluid movement, Jaune knelt down and picked up Nora in a bridal carry. "Get some rest. I'll take the next one."

Nora nodded into his chest.

-o-

Jaune checked to see that Nora was indeed eating. Dusk had finally arrived. The few things Jaune was able to try, failed to slow the grim. The only real success was that the grim still followed him. His eyes surveyed the river and Jaune shook his head. "The grim is still moving too fast. We'll get to the ravine sooner than I wanted."

Nora sighed and stood up. "I'm running out of ideas on how to stall."

Jaune rubbed his neck. "It's a straight shot to the ravine now." Jaune looked down the river. It was well after dusk, but he could just make out the silhouette of the grim that rose above the treeline. "Well. Now is better than any to see if I am able to hold a line against it."

Nora stilled in mid chew. Finally she said. "Alright."

Jaune got up from his spot and sat next to her. He put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her back so they were laying down together. "Just to test the waters Nora."

Nora sighed and leaned against him. She didn't say it. But Jaune knew she was not getting sleep. "Am I helping?" Nora closed her eyes. She was truly afraid of the answer.

Jaune pulled her close to kiss her forehead. "Yes. You were right by the way. I wouldn't stand a chance by myself."

Nora turned to him and wrapped her arms around his sides. "Thank you."

Jaune held her and gently rubbed his nose against her hair. When he realized she fell asleep he reached around and pulled his back pack to get his cloak. He sat with her for a while as she slept on his leg. He moved her head and slid the padded side of his pack against her head and covered her with his cloak for warmth. Jaune closed his eyes. He knew he needed to sleep too. He did his best to ignore the droning breathing of the grim a quarter mile away. Jaune stroked her face and waited to make sure the pinched look on Nora's face relaxed.

The grim was affecting her dreams. It was subtle. But he could feel the foreign fear in her aura. Jaune let his aura warm him to protect himself. Once that was done, Jaune kept his arms around Nora. His presence seemed to help a little. A relieved Jaune spent some time looking at Nora that night. Now forced to do nothing but think, he realized how many regrets he had. He had regretted choices he made with his family, estranged as they were. He regretted separating from Nora and Ren. From Ruby and the others. What he regretted the most was the time he will miss being with Nora in the future.

Jaune would not say it. With how in-tune he was with both of their aura, Jaune could tell. Nora was out. It was why the grim aura was affecting her now. Jaune knew he had been burning his aura more than he should have to keep that monster following them this far. Jaune was not sure if he would see tomorrow night. Which was why instead of sleeping he felt content and rested simply looking at Nora. When she looked in pain he reached and caressed her cheek. And when she hiccuped something whether it was his name's or Rens, Jaune understood. Jaune moved and laid next to her and pulled her head close to his. He closed his eyes and felt all the things he wished he had said for years spill out.

"You will be alright. Syf and Mez are safe and waiting for you. I want to keep you safe. I've loved you for years. I am sorry I waited so long to tell you." Jaune continued to confess all things he wished he said years ago when he knew he loved her. He wasted so many chances to be with her sooner. Eventually his warm voice stopped and Nora's eyes furrowed when the warm tone stopped. Jaune buried his face against her hair. He felt drained. His eyes drooped and he whispered, "I just wish we had more time Nora."

-o-

Nora woke from a warm dream. She sighed in relief. Nora had not felt this rested since before the trip.

Nora looked to the sky and groaned as the sun was only now changing the sky. Nora sat up and looked to Jaune. He was still asleep. Tired bags were under his eyes. Nora slowly extracted herself from his arms and quickly changed clothes to something she washed the day before. The cold water of the river woke her up. This close to the grim, she could actually see it's black mass as it straddled the river and its crouching position. It was still too dark for it to see her. But she had the distinct feeling it knew something was out there with aura. It's head turned down the river towards her. It huffed loudly through its nose.

Nora took that as her cue to get out of there. She quickly woke up Jaune and stretched. Another ration bar was down her throat by the time Jaune destroyed the fire pit from the night before and was back in armor. Jaune pulled out his sword and inspected it. He held it at the base of the blade and closed his eyes. He let the hilt lightly tap his forehead before he gave a frustrated sigh. "Nora? You said you packed a few dust crystals?"

Nora pulled on her pack. "Yeah. Did you think of something?"

Jaune still held the blade by its base and handed her his sword hilt first. "Take it. I want you to see if you can collapse the entrance to the ravine after I bring the grim in."

Nora took the sword. She glanced at his sheath. "I thought you were going to try and stall it more."

Jaune unbuckled his sheath. He rotated it once around his hand. The sheath collapsed tighter into itself. A pommel unfolded from the sheath mouth and the gold trim shifted into a sharp narrow blade that was longer than the sword Nora had in hand.

"That is still the plan, but I will only have one shot at it. I don't think I will have any other chances to try before it reaches the ravine. We are just too close."

Nora set the sword down on the ground and hugged him. "You better come back safe. First mate's orders."

Jaune smiled and held her for a moment. He pulled back for a moment to look at her. "Keep your scroll open." Jaune kissed her one more time. "I love you."

Nora's heart skipped for all the wrong reasons. "I love you." She took Jaune's sword and made the short four mile run to the entrance of the ravine. It was a quick run with how long the slope to the ravine's mouth lasted.

Nora looked to the top and looked at Jaune's sword. "I guess I better get started. That's a lot of highland to climb up."

-o-

Jaune walked out to the river bank. The last few times he tried to get the grim's attention he had the added safety net of Nora being there to use lightning to get its attention. He didn't have that now. Jaune rubbed his throat. He understood the theory of what he was about to do, but he had only ever done it once. Ruby in a drunken stupor ordered him to never do it again. _Eh, the night in the sheriff's office was worth it. The poor town needed something to liven it up._ Jaune smiled at the memory.

Jaune had always been good about controlling his aura. It was the only reason he had any confidence he wouldn't blow out his vocal cords. Jaune touched the scroll on his chest. "Hey Nora. I'm muting my scroll for a second. I am still here." Jaune clicked it mute and inhaled.

_What are you about to do?_

Jaune's voice vibrated with a yell that shook the water. Nora on the scroll's voice glitched from the scroll as she finished her question. Jaune was worried for a moment that he might have actually broken his scroll. He continued to enhance his voice with aura. The wake of sound ran along the river. Trees vibrated along the edges before the Grim reared its head back at the unexpected attack. It was still a little too dark for it, but it stood up and carefully put several feet in his direction before he confidently started to run at Jaune.

_Jaune, don't do that again. You scared the shit out of me._

Jaune laughed as he unmuted his mic. "I am glad I didn't fry the scroll."

Nora laughed through the speaker. _You are lucky you didn't. Keep me updated._

"Yes ma'am."

Jaune felt that his aura was still strong but his reserves were shallow. He looked behind him. It should be about three miles. One good attack and if he could knock it down, he could make it to the ravine. It was still early morning. Jaune was counting on the extra shadows of the ravine to make the grim more careful about moving around. An earlier dusk would give him and Nora more time to rest too. With that optimistic thought, Jaune pulled his sword from the ground where he set it.

Jaune focused on the sword. If aura amplification was his number one skill. Aura manipulation would be his second. His sword was infused with aura and it began to hum with energy. The gold accents on the sword turned bright red from the heat.

Jaune looked at his sword regretfully. "Come on Pyrrha, one last adventure."

The molten metal kept its shape thanks to Jaune's aura. Waves of heat warped the air around it. Jaune pulled the sword behind his body with his empty shield hand facing towards the grim.

The grim took only a few more minutes to get to him. It stumbled against rocks and his hooves would occasionally move too close to the forest edge. Its legs dragged up heavy water soaked roots. It released a frustrated roar that matched Jaune's own. Jaune gritted his teeth and bore the wave of frustrated sound.

Jaune took a moment to focus and flared his aura. It allowed the grim to find him when it began to look lost. The grim strode forward with renewed purpose. It's speed built quickly in the open path. Jaune was counting on it. He condensed more aura into his sword and the heat of the gold metal began to vibrate violently at a temperature it was not made for.

Jaune never had any allusions he would be as acrobatic as his counterparts. He was not even close to being as fast as the second slowest person. That would be Blake when she wasn't using her semblance. That was something Nora had fun holding over the black haired faunus.

Jaune crouched and channeled aura into legs. A few moments longer and the grim was nearly on top of him. After experiencing something the size of a mountain cast a shadow over him for the past few days, he longer flinched. Instead he jumped into the air. The tree line for the forest must have been close to forty feet. Just the height of the grim's knees. Jaune could not quite jump that high, but he just had to be close to the grim's knee and survive the seconds afterwards to consider this stupid move a victory.

Without realizing he was already in motion, the Grim's left knee was rapidly approaching. The weight of its stride was in the middle of its right leg. The precious seconds where that left knee was stationary was exactly what Jaune was looking for. Any doubts about the future or his fears of his family were gone from his mind. All that was his world was the black leathery skin as thick as any armor, and the scolding heat of his sword that seemed to have been burning through his gauntlet.

The sword pierced just below the knee. The molten gold metal that was not fully submerged into the grim splashed against the grim's knee and onto his armor. Jaune roared in pain when the molten metal hit his exposed forearm. Jaune placed his free hand against the grim and concentrated. The molten metal infused with his aura burst into a life of its own. It writhed and slithered into the wound. It burrowed deep past the swords tip. Jaune around the burned portions of his hand pulled out a single dust crystal of ice and ignited it against the wound as he pulled his sword free. The much thinner blade was missing all the gold accents. The upper half of the blade where the edge was all gold metal was missing. The sword began to break apart to its basic shield components without the gold metal there to hold it in place.

Jaune felt himself fall toward the ground. The dust crystal exploded against the small slice he made on the grim's knee.

The grim roared as something hard and unmoving was lodged in its knee burning then solidifying inside the joint. It screeched loudly in a black angry wail.

Jaune was ready to catch himself and froze as all the horrors and fears were brought to the forefront of his mind by the grim's wail. Tears ripped from his eyes at the thought of his dead children. Anguish of his dead wife. The hopelessness of dying today. The pointlessness of his struggles.

It was the thought of his dead wife that helped snap him out of it. That was the grim projecting fear. They weren't even married. The thought that they were not married was painful to admit through the haze of the grim's attack. But it made him aware.

_Jaune! Are you alright?_

Jaune looked to the rapidly approaching ground and turned and landed in the water. The grim was thrashing loudly and another wave of fear crushed against his psyche. Jaune struggled to breathe as the fear hit him several more times. He finally had the chance to get out of the water. The earth shook from the grim's angry thrashing. Jaune had to run. He needed to get to the mouth of the ravine. He stumbled for a few moments.

_Jaune! Just make it to the mouth. I'm ready for it! Please run!_

Jaune shook his head and started to run. Upturned trees flew around him until he was past the danger zone. He exhaled a sigh of relief and started to run with a clearer head. The grim tried its best to stand and began to limp around the foreign object in its knee. Jaune waited near the mouth of the ravine and only entered when the Grim gingerly chased after him. Its rage was tempered now. It's body crashed against the walls of the valley and carved new sections as it entered the ravine.

Jaune was relieved the ravine was so large. It was hard to judge from a map. The crack in the earth was as wide as the river bed and then some. The forest was more densely packed near the edges of the water, but that did not deter the grim. Jaune ran down the river deeper into the ravine. He was happy to spot the walls were steep and the sides would begin to collapse from rock slides if the grim tried to dig. All that mattered was that the entrance was closed.

Jaune muted his scroll one more time and inhaled. With all of his remaining aura he roared one more time. The water and the tree shook and funneled the sound wave towards the deep into the ravine, the trees finally began to grow past the grim's shoulders. The grim groaned loudly before it took three angry steps and lowered its head to swing at him.

The monstrosity was not prepared for the steep slope hidden by the forest. Its' head dipped further towards the ground with a resounding crash.

-o-

Nora screamed for Jaune when she saw the body of the grim slide down towards the center of the ravine. Nora didn't have a lot of time. She quickly turned to the holes in the rock face she made. Just one was enough to start the chain reaction. Nora hung by Jaune's sword and raised a broken red crystal to the hole. She made twenty on each side of the entrance. Each was filled with a small amount of broken ice and fire shards. Nora shoved her arm into the hole and crushed the crystal. The fire enveloped her arm. She felt her aura rebel against the strain.

Nora kicked off the cliff side and pulled Jaune's sword with her. She flew across the gap to the other cliff. She looked back to see several holes begin to explode in fire. Ice then began to break apart the rocks. Nora looked back to the rapidly approaching cliff and raised Jaune's sword. Nora grunted as she slammed against the rock face. She used Jaune's sword like a hook to find purchase.

Nora gasped in pain and wheezed at the sound of the rocks behind her and the grim crashing into the ravine below her. "Just one more!" She urged herself on. She fell too far below the cuts she made. With herculean effort she finally got something for her feet to stand on and she started climbing. "Just one more and we got this thing trapped. You hear that Jaune? We're almost done."

Nora climbed several more paces to the cut holes. "Jaune? You there?"

-o-

Jaune tried to jump back to avoid the falling grim as quickly as he could. Unfortunately the speed of the massive body that slid down the ravine's slopes was faster. Jaune grunted and felt his world spin. He felt his aura begin to dangerously crack as earth, rocks and roots slammed against him.

Jaune's body was weightless and the planet orbited him.

Jaune slammed against something hard. Jaune couldn't even see. His vision was bloodied and he was sure he stupidly bit his tongue during the collision. His breath was weak and wheezing.

A light of energy was coming back to him but he could not understand the screams of panic from his scroll. He tried to gurgle a response and forced the last of his aura into healing his mouth. He wanted to at least speak to Nora. Jaune's voice cracked and gurgled more until he was able to spit blood out of his mouth. "Nor-ah."

It took him a few seconds to realize Nora was frantically calling him to answer her. Jaune vaguely remembered he muted his scroll. He blindly touched it until he found the right button. "Nora."

_Jaune! Where are you?_

Jaune sighed out exhaustively. He opened a swollen eye and could barely make out the grim struggling to stand. It needed to use its bad knee and thrashed widely in anger when it could not put weight on it.

"A few hundred paces in front of the grim."

_I'm coming. Keep talking. I'm listening for your voice._

Jaune looked around him and realized he was buried in upturned tree roots. "Mm-kay. I'm out of aura. So getting tired over here. I could use a nap."

_Don't fall asleep Jaune! Just keep talking. I'm getting there._

Jaune nodded uselessly. He was so tired. Jaune knew what that meant. "I'm glad I met you Nora."

Nora sniffed through the scroll. _Don't talk like you're dying Jaune. We got so much more time together._

Jaune's lazy eyes looked up towards the sky. "Yeah. We do." He didn't hear what Nora said next. It was hard to focus. The memories of the day passed through his mind. So too did the things he whispered to her as she slept the night before. Jaune swallowed and wheezed, "I am sorry." Jaune labored to breathe. "You deserve better than this."

 _It's alright._ Nora cried aloud. _Just stay with me Jaune. I am running around the grim now. I had to keep some extra distance or I would get caught up in its wail._

Jaune mm'ed at the reply. "I want to live my life with you Nora." The grim's cry echoed in his mind. The thought of his dead wife. In its own morbid way, the grim's cry reveals what your greatest fears are. But it also told Jaune what he never thought to acknowledge. Even if Jaune never said anything to Nora. For some time now, Jaune wanted to be more than boyfriend and girlfriend. Jaune closed his eyes. It was hard to stay awake.

Jaune murmured out, "We've been to the end of the world and back Nora." Jaune inhaled deeply. "It was all worth it to be with you."

Nora sniffed around several harsh breaths. _I think I see you! You'll get better soon. Just keep talking._

Jaune smiled around his closed eyes. "I love you all."

Jaune knew he was losing focus. But he still smiled. _Please just stay awake! "_ I see you _!"_

Jaune opened his eyes and turned his head to her voice. Nora in her long red hair and rosy cheeks came running to him. Desperately she pulled her pack from her back. "I'm here now Jaune. We'll get you patched up soon. Just stay awake."

Nora dropped her bag and pulled off her gloves. "Do you have any aura left Jaune?"

Jaune didn't even hear her question. He was just happy to see her again. Jaune smiled at her.

"Jaune?" Nora took off his gauntlet and laced her fingers with his. "Jaune. Listen to me. I have aura. Take it. I don't need it. Please. Just take my aura. Heal yourself."

Nora flared what little aura she had left. A far cry from igniting the area with light, her hands barely glowed. Her eyes were red and burned. His face was peaceful but his mouth oozed blood and his arms were black and purple with red stains across his head.

"Please take it Jaune. I need you."

Nora's aura flickered as she pushed it all into her hands. The light faded for a moment. Nora looked to Jaune. The purple around his ears and neck faded. More aura dimmed out of her hands. Nora channeled the last of her aura into her hands and Jaune's semblance sucked it greedily. Nora released a sob in relief before she took the time to really check him.

His body was a mess of ripped skin where armor did not protect him. Nora opened her bag and started the task to bandage him. His breathing was slow but clear of the rasp he had when he spoke. That gave her all the hope she needed to look at the superficial wounds.

When Nora was done she sat back, emotionally and physically exhausted. The huntress looked down to the deeper parts of the ravine. The world seemed to come back to life as she was very aware of how loud and dangerous the grim continued to be. It thrashed the ground to stand back up.

She looked down to Jaune unsure if she could lift him with no aura to help her. Nora felt her hands go under him and she knew that was just not happening. "Sorry Jaune. We're ditching the armor." Nora carefully took off the chest plate, gauntlet and metal clad boots. He still did not seem to get any smaller for her. She was able to check and smiled in relief that his head stopped bleeding. The gash that ran through his hair was thinner. She leaned him forward and she got him on her back and lifted.

The walk to a refuge was hard. He was still so much taller than her. His legs were long and when she had to navigate the uneven ground she needed to make sure nothing hit him. She had no idea what his condition was. Her only hope was that his aura could heal most of it.

After two hours Nora found a suitable cave. It was barely considered one with how shallow the crevice was. But it would protect them from the elements and from the Grim who had finally gotten on its feet and tried its best to step on the ground to find where it was safe to do so.

It definitely lost track of them and was just looking for a way out.

Nora felt a second wind with her aura. After she started a fire, she rested her hand on top of Jaune's. He breathed slow long breaths which eased Nora's fears. Nora leaned over her captain and tucked him deeper into his cloak covering him for protection. Slowly but surely, Jaune absorbed the aura she offered.

Nora watched him sleep and ran a hand through his hair. "Don't scare me like that again." She lifted and kissed the back of his hand and stood up with a furrowed look.

The grim was making more noises.

Nora peaked out of the cave and moved around the craggy cliff side to see the grim had managed to reach the ravine side. It banged its hoof against the steep slope. It took two steps before it pounded its foot against the ground to flatten it to gain a better footing.

Nora bit her lip. "Jaune was right. This isn't enough." At the moment she was too tired to do anything. After watching it for an hour she went back to Jaune. The grim would not make a lot of progress today. It was already reaching dusk. It came earlier thanks to the high mountains that acted as walls. Nora watched the Grim one more time. It was dark enough in the ravine she could only make out the shadow of its shoulder and heads above the treeline. It circled several times to flatten the earth where it stood to kneel only to fall over on its side in an angry wail. It flailed on the ground for a while before it gave up its struggle and laid on its side to wait for daylight. It growled in impatience as it faced the wall it had been trying to flatten to climb out.

The extra two hours were a welcome change to Nora as she had already set a fire and collected fresh water. Occasionally when she knew she regained some aura back, she would lay her hands on Jaune's and offer it to him. In his unconscious state, it took a few minutes for his aura to realize there was some to take. Nora didn't mind. She held his hand and let the night ebb away. It had only been a few days. She would feel better if she could stall for one or two more.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora struggles against fatigue and fear while the grim makes its attempt to escape its cage.

Nora woke at the same time she had for the last four mornings. She felt the warmth in her hand and glanced over to Jaune' unconscious form. Her hand never left his. Nora checked and was relieved that Jaune's breathing was steady with no wheeze or pain. Nora did her best to remain optimistic that it would be just a matter of time until he woke up.

Nora opened her scroll and realized it was barely five. Daylight would normally be in the next half hour, but the ravine walls were tall. Nora would give sunlight another hour to an hour and a half before the grim could move.

Nora leaned forward and kissed Jaune's forehead. She swapped batteries out for both her scroll and his. She tested it once to see they were both on open channel and grabbed her bag and Jaune's sword. She walked outside and could hear the grim's impatient groan that huffed a promise it would break free today. Nora turned back to the cave entrance and placed her hands on her hips and started her plan. It would take some time to prepare it, but she had hours of time before the grim became a threat. The first thing she did was find some dry dead wood.

Jaune said this was a last resort. Nora figured with no more aura and a man down… This is the last resort. She erected five pyres in a semi circle in the valley of the ravine. It took her some time to figure out where she was and the direction the caravan was moving. She needed these pyres to deter the grim from that direction.

Dry debris and fire dust laid in nodes between the pyres. Daylight had already arrived in the valley and the grim was having difficulty to walk with the metal that was lodged in its joint. The trees made it hard for the grim to figure out where there was flat land and not more slopes. Nora was happy it spent half the day to try and navigate a way out. The entrance was an impossible exit for the grim thanks to the slick stream of mud it created in its wake.

Nora was content to move Jaune out of the ravine all together. The path she found was a hunter's trail used to hunt game. It wound into a nearly invisible rock face and out the ravine. Nora made sure Jaune was comfortable in a small canopy of trees. One more time before she went back down to the pyres, Nora laid her bare hand against Jaune's and willed her aura into his hands. Jaune's aura responded quickly and greedily absorbed the more substantial energy she had to offer.

Nora smiled at his unconscious face and turned back down the ravine. All there was to do now was wait and see when she should start her fireworks.

-o-

Nora actually cheered when the Grim thrashed angrily against the new dip it found itself in. It had cleared most of the forest and formed the stream into a large pit of mud and water. But the more it struggled to climb the more it snaked to the lower levels of the ravine. It wailed loudly and the nearby trees lost their color. It did little to free it of its predicament.

"Woo!" Nora cheered. Her cry was lost among the rattling roar of the grim. The ravine shook as it slammed it's good hoof on the ground. Nora nearly skipped back to the hunting path as it settled down. "Jaune, I don't know if you can hear me but we got it stuck." She said into her scroll.

Nora kept her upbeat energy all the way to Jaune's small cover. Nora knelt next to him and sighed. "Really wished we had some nice scrolls."

The ones they owned were designed to just be used as communication devices. They did not have equipment like aura measuring tools. Jaune was the last huntsmen of their team to have one years ago. He didn't even have that one anymore. Huntsmen just come to a point where they know where their aura level were without looking at a meter. Why pay for the one thing that triples the price of a scroll?

Nora vowed that she was going to pay triple when they got out of here.

The one perk of being out of the ravine was how large she could keep the camp fire. It was much larger now since they did not have to hide from the grim. With the larger fire came more heat for the two. Jaune still laid with his cloak wrapped around his shoulders.

"Here we go Jaune. Just open your mouth for me." Nora had pulled up to him and gently placed drops of broth she made from the jerky in their pack. Jaune slowly absorbed the liquid in his mouth. Nora stopped when half of the bowl was gone.

Nora then ate her long cooled meal in silence. The drone of the grim echoed out of the ravine in an eerie wail. Nora felt the little appetite she had, leave her. She quickly swallowed her soup and just pulled closer to Jaune.

RWAH!

Nora reached for Jaune's hand. The air shook from the cry a second time. The grim was getting angrier, and its wail began to affect her from outside the ravine. She exhaled as she tried to slow her rapidly beating heart. "How am I supposed to sleep like this?"

The grim seemed to hack like it was coughing before it rustled against the broken wood it churned from the ground.

Nora sighed and looked over to Jaune's sword. The naked sword laid up right in the ground. It would be useless to her. She laid her head back against the tree and sighed. It should be the fifth day. But she was not actually sure anymore. The lack of sleep and the stress of it all had been catching up with her. She opened her scroll and looked at her babies. The picture of the pair was several years old now. It was back when they were four and five. Nora herself was trying her best to hold them in one spot.

Jaune had taken that one. Nora turned to the next picture. The next was one of him and the kids. Each one had taken one of Jaunes' shoulders as he had spun them around on Syf's birthday.

Nora looked up to the dark sky. "How many more days?"

Nora wanted them all safe. She reached out for Jaune's hand and squeezed it. Jaune's firm hand comforted her. Time passed by in the silent woods. The grim had mercifully stopped fighting with itself. Nora looked at pictures until the warmth of Jaune's hand lulled her to sleep.

-o-

Nora awoke with heavy black bags under her eyes. She kept waking from a nightmare she quickly forgot but had the distinct impression it was from when she was a child but all wrong and twisted. She closed her eyes while she laid down and inhaled. Nora smiled. Her aura had finally begun to regenerate in earnest. A day of rest after she ran around the forest was exactly what she needed. She got up and checked Jaune. Most of the wounds she had bandaged the first day were no longer needed. But he stayed unconscious. She kissed his forehead and ran a hand through his hair. "Ok. Stall the grim. I can do this."

Nora quickly packed up camp and lifted Jaune to move him. They needed a new campsite away from the ravine. The drone of the grim echoed in the forest air. If Nora did not know where it was, she would have sworn the sound came from everywhere.

Like yesterday, she set up camp and made sure Jaune's scroll was next to his head. It reverbed when she tested the open mic on his side. Happy that function still worked, she emptied out her bag and took only a few dust crystals in their dust containers.

Energy surged through her legs as she sprinted back up the sides of the valley before she descended further into the ravine. The thick forest began to clear to the river and the grim. It droned as it paced on a limp leg. It's knee was now open and the bone shone through.

Nora gave a satisfied grin. The grim had been picking at it. She had no doubt it would heal the leg again after the metal was gone. But it was just one more set back for the grim. Nora closed off her aura except for just the essential incase of some kind of attack and knelt next to a tree. She was still a ways from the pyres she built. Nora watched and waited now that the grim was just beginning to move in the morning hours.

The earth shook as it bit at its knee. It snorted and groaned before it knelt down and ground its knee against the ground. The morning was spent like that. The lull in the day nearly got to her. After so many days running and chasing this thing. She felt exhausted just staring at it. Her head snapped up as something in the back of her mind screamed in terror. Nora clutched her scroll. "Jaune?"

The scroll was silent. Nora sighed. She had an idea that the grim was messing with her mind. But that seemed to have cemented the thought. It was her own voice she heard. After releasing her hand from the scroll she wished she had more medical knowledge. It's taking Jaune too long to wake up. She seriously contemplated setting a time for the pyre's tomorrow morning and leaving now. Nora was sure she would get run down by the grim if she had to carry Jaune. But if she had a night head start. Even if the grim somehow escaped the ravine after the fire herded it in the opposite direction…

Nora slapped her cheeks to stay awake. That was the fatigue talking. The longer they stayed here, the better.

Nora gripped her knees and slowly stood up. From this distance, the grim would never be able to see her from the darkness of the forest. But she wouldn't put it past the thing to sense her aura if she used it in the ravine. Nora sneaked away and found the hunting trail up and out of the valley.

Jaune had still stayed asleep where she left him. But his breathing was steady and strong. Nora reached for his hand and offered him more aura. Jaune's aura did not budge. "That's a good sign. He's full. Just wake up whenever you are ready captain."

Nora sat down next to her boyfriends' laid body and took out the rations. They had planned for a week and a half. But jerky broth could only carry you so far. She ate some dried fruit and oats instead.

Nora reached for Jaune's hand again. She stared at his sleeping body. Now that he was seemingly out of the woods Nora gave a frustrated growl. "I am mad at you. Please don't scare me like that again. I don't want to bury another man I love."

Nora lowered her head into her knees and sniffed. She looked up and fanned her eyes. "Not now. I need to focus damnit."

Nora checked Jaune's scroll one more time. Once she was satisfied she would know as soon as he so much as groaned, Nora stood up and walked back to her post. The grim was digging at the ground around it. It's head tilted up with a groan and looked back to the earth. It swiped its tails wide in an arc to clear more of its path. It seemed to dig along the river path. It went to the steepest part of the wall of the ravine. The walls closed to a narrow opening too small for it to escape from. Nora gasped as it roared and reared back on its hind legs before it slammed one hoof into the river in a mighty splash.

"What is it doing?" Nora frowned. It stopped trying to gnaw its leg. It was not even trying to scale the sloped walls. It seemed content to destroy the river bank. Nora took out her topography map and traced the river and the several lines that showed how steep that side was. The ravine funneled into a narrow crack that was an underwater river on the other side of the valley. The north would be easier to dig and scale. Why would it want that way?"

Nora rubbed her face as something cold dripped on the tip of her nose. Nora looked up to the sky and her heart stopped. "Rain."

Nora did not have the skills to understand what that meant for the valley. But the water would have to go somewhere. Nora followed the river end on the map. "The grim must be widening the river mouth. A fast moving river would definitely help with that. Shit."

Nora looked to her trap and back to Jaune. A moment later she was on her feet and sliding down the hill side to the first pyre. She lit it with her fire starter before she moved to the next one. Nora panted as she moved. All semblance of stealth forgotten. It did not matter to the grim. It was more interested in escaping. Nora lit the other pyres and quickly scaled back up the cliff side to survey the pyres as dry wood and fallen leaves caught and spread throughout the valley.

The fires would never truly hurt the grim. She only hoped that the ash and rain would just make it harder for it to see. With the fire in full sway, Nora turned to get Jaune. They had to get out before it broke free.

-o-

Nora was relieved that her aura had returned. With two bags and Jaune on her back, she was not sure how she would have been able to do it otherwise. It probably would have meant she would have had to leave the camp supplies. That would have been a death sentence.

Nora ignored the river and made a straight line for the mountains the village would escape to. As is, it would be easily a nine day journey. Nora thought about their rations. It would be tight but they had enough. She was almost tempted to stop by the village and get more supplies but thought better of it. If the grim followed them toward the village buildings there would be nothing left.

Nora felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise while the rain poured on top of them. The ravine shook from even miles away. The roar played with her imagination. Thoughts of it breaking out and catching up to her instantly pushed her forward. Her mind knew that it would take time to escape the ravine. That it would take a day or two for it to catch up. If it did at all with that knee. But the roar.

ROAU!

Nora stopped as the air and the trees above her shook. It was definitely getting fainter, but her heart beat a primordial fear. It would not stop.

Nora did her best to look forward and not think about what was going on behind her. She just needed to focus on moving as quickly as possible. She laid Jaune's cloak over his head and it did a good job protecting both of them from the rain. It was unfortunate this high in altitude, the cloak did little to protect her from the chilly air.

Puffs of breath escaped her mouth as she tried to look at the map and her compass one more time. She had started to veer off course. The night came later than she remembered. The camp was made and she only had just ate dry jerky to keep herself satiated. Thankfully the rain had stopped some time ago.

The long march had taken its toll and Nora was ready to sleep early. She checked Jaune one more time and laid among the quiet trees. The forest had come alive at night. She knew the fire would do its job to deter the random animals. Nora sat next to Jaune and sighed. She took his hand one more time and leaned against the tree. "I don't know how long I can do this Jaune."

Nora watched the man breath. "Wake up soon." Nora turned her head and listened before she settled in to sleep. She had not heard the grim in some time. If she was honest, she hoped her mind could forget about it.

At least for now.

-o-

Nora rested in a fitful sleep. Her arms were tense and they gripped her elbows as her arms remained crossed.

That was what Jaune awoke to very late in the evening. In the dimming firelight, Jaune tried to reach out to her but he was so weak. His head bobbed as he touched her leg. The effort was too much and sleep claimed him.

Nora shook her head as she awoke in the predawn hours. Her eyes burned red from the last few days of work. When she looked down, her heart jumped. Jaune still laid on his back but his arm had outstretched to her in the middle of the night. Nora reached for his hand and his fingers curled around hers. Nora could not stop the smile that graced her lips.

Nora moved closer. "Jaune?" She gently shook him.

Jaune grunted and his eyes flinched at the light that filtered through the canopy. Jaune tilted his head slowly. Lidded eyes smiled at her. "Hey gorgeous."

Nora laughed and leaned down to kiss him. "Welcome back Jaune."

-o-

The travel was much slower now that Jaune was awake. But that was mostly because he insisted they stop using their aura. Nora eyed him critically while they stopped for their fourth break that day. Jaune checked his sandals. They were poor replacement for boots but they were all he had left. When he stood back up he had already caught his breath and seemed ready to continue.

Jaune held his naked blade in his hand carefully now that he no longer had a sheath for it. It felt awkward at times to simply hold it like that for so long. Jaune was in the middle of thinking about what to do about it when a crash echoed through the mountains. Birds took to the skies and the ground shook. Distantly they could make out the sound of a victorious roar.

Nora gripped Jaune's shoulder. "Let's keep moving." She urged him. "We don't know how fast it will move."

Jaune nodded quietly. Without aura, the pace they had set was a fraction of their normal speed. The grim could catch up to them as soon as a day. "It's been a week and we are still a day away from the village. Do we want to make a run for it?" Jaune asked.

Nora bit her lip. A day away from the village and at a huntsmans pace the new village was four days away from theirs. Was that enough time for the village? "Any place we can make one more stand?" Nora asked. Her arms trembled at the thought.

Jaune took out the map from her bag and looked at it. He traced his finger along the low ground. "There will be grassland in a day. After that was craggy rock with no vegetation. No rivers any further ahead. The open plains would be suicide."

Nora thought about it. The plains. "Do you think it rained out that far?"

Jaune looked in the direction of the flat lands and back to the sky. "No. The rain was coming off the ocean. It wouldn't be able to get past that mountain range."

"Then I have an idea."

-o-

Nora watched as Jaune flared his arua one more time. He had done so every few hours. It acted like a guiding light for the grim. They had watched for a time and it always seemed to veer towards specific directions. Was it good to know they wouldn't get lost if the grim acted as a compass? At least they knew that the caravan was still moving. Nora sighed and waited. This was the worst part. She didn't have the aura or the semblance to do what Jaune did.

More frustrating was it always seemed to _work_. From even this distance, they could actually _feel_ the grim pause and turn back to go in a new direction before it started to go back towards Jaune. It was a very surreal moment when she realized that Ren's and Jaune's semblances seemed to have the direct opposite reaction against the grim.

Jaune let his aura relax and the light in his body seeped back under his skin. She blinked and realized how dirty he was. How they both must have looked by now. Nora looked at her arms. They were both caked in mud from the rain, and there was no place here to really clean up on the plains.

Nora went back to the pile of dried dirt she had been playing with. Mixed in with random dried weeds and pollen she knew she did not even need to try and mix anything. The fields would do it for her. Eventually she looked up. "How far is it now?"

"Less than half a day. We may even see it tonight."

Nora swallowed. She placed a hand against the ground but could not feel the tell tale signs of its feet yet. "Do you think its knee is still bad?"

Jaune shrugged. "After so long? Probably not. It either grounded the metal out just by the pressure of its weight, or is used to it now."

Nora rubbed her face. "At least we got this." Nora patted the small mound of a wall. It used to be part of a way station but it was abandoned decades ago. Nora knew of it because she and Ren had found it once while exploring the region when they thought they wanted to move to the village. She had always thought it was odd to have it out in the middle of nowhere. But it made sense if it was a resting station for messengers.

"What do you think the kids are doing?" Jaune asked. He laughed at the idea of them still being in those wagons.

"I am sure they are driving the caravan master crazy. I only packed three books. They should have been done with those days ago." Nora laughed and let the good humor sufuse her.

"I am sure they are trying their best to behave. They will have plenty of stories to tell us when we get back home." Jaune stretched and watched the direction the grim made noise. "Looks like we'll finally have a few stories to tell Ruby too."

Nora wrapped her arms around her knees and giggled. "She will be jealous. It's not often anyone has a grim story anymore." Nora tucked her chin to her knees and sighed. "Thanks."

Jaune tilted his head back towards her with a questioning look.

"Just thinking about everyone else. It's easy to forget about them all when we are here just waiting."

Jaune knew what she meant. It's hard to pull your nose away from what is right in front of you to think about another picture.

"I'll give us two more days Nora. Then we can make a run for it. The other huntsmen should be mobilizing soon."

Nora rubbed her eyes and stood up to join his vigil. "This is the longest I've been away from them. Don't know how it's going to feel when I send Mez to the academy in a few years."

Jaune stared at the forest edge. His mouth formed an impish grin. "You mean you don't know what we would do without the kids around?"

Nora snorted and hit his side. "Stop that!"

-o-

Nora and anxiety have been good friends for the last few years. And like an old friend, it seemed to wrap its arms around her. She could hear the grim most of the morning. Nora gripped her hands to try and make the feeling go away.

Jaune and Nora had taken up a spot in the fading tree line. Jaune had scouted and pointed them to the rolling foothills where it would enter the prairie. The couple had known for hours that the rumbling sounds were different. The steps were far heavier than what they remembered. Jaune felt his fingertips touch Nora's. Nora instantly laced her's through his. The air shook as the muffled sound of its grumble cleared the hills. The hills, still miles away, seemed to move as the trees shook from every step. Finally the grim's head moved around the hill to stare at them. The grim stopped in mid step as it found its quarry. Jaune gritted his teeth, that was by far a greater distance than it did before the ravine.

"Oh, Jaune..."

Jaune began to saturate the air with aura as he pushed her back. "Run."

They had not seen the grim in days so they had forgotten about the mask. When they first made contact with the grim, the broken speckled mask was a sign that the grim was still forming. It was still _growing_. The grim cleared the last hillside and walked out into the open of the last thinning parts of the forest. It's body was nearly a third larger than its time at the ravine. A white skull mask wrapped around its head with two protruding horns that went out from the side of its head before they turned forward and curled slightly upward. The trees that had once marked its shoulders at the start of their delay and then barely covered his legs when it went into the ravine, now only reached above it's knees. It gave a triumphant roar that shook the trees now that it found the light it had been looking for. It charged horns low to the forest floor churning trees in its wake.

Jaune let his aura flare. He touched his scroll that sat on his chest. Nora had long since created space between the two. "We're using all of it. Once it's all used, go east. I am right behind you."

" _Got it!"_

Jaune did not turn to see Nora go. He focused on the first attack. The grim met him just outside the tree line. It's heavy white horns swept across the earth. Dirt flew into the air in a wave that blacked out the sun. Jaune sunk his sword into the earth to anchor himself and felt the bubble of dense aura wrap around him. He gripped his sword with all his strength as the giant horn swept into his small bubble of aura. He grunted as the sudden mass hit, then pressed on top of him before it was gone.

-o-

Nora felt time stand still when the grim's stopped then suddenly thrust hits horns high into the air, earth exploded upwards from the strike. She closed her eyes to look away and pressed the trigger. A dozen mines exploded on the ground. The air was filled with plumes of earth and grass. She exhaled in relief when that tendril of Jaune's aura reached out to hers. She grabbed it greedily. Her own aura spread out around her and into the air. Nora took comfort in their mixed aura before she let it go and staggered at the sudden loss of aura. She swayed on her feet before she turned to run east. Her job was done.

-o-

Jaune let his knees go and he fell to the ground. He coughed out the sudden influx of dirt he breathed in when his bubble broke. Far behind him, he heard the explosions of dust crystals. Like reaching out a hand to her's, he felt Nora's familiar aura strong, safe and far behind him. His aura mixed with her's. For a reluctant moment, neither wanted to let go of the connection, before Nora pulled away.

Jaune looked up to the grim. He growled in annoyance before it raised its hoof. Jaune felt the web of aura that lingered in the air and pulled on it. The aura infused earth spiraled. Hundreds of meters of aura infused earth obediently flew towards him. Jaune gritted his teeth as the aura's _mass_ tried to control where it went. He dropped the aura protecting him to focus. The swirl of earth and grass flew towards the grim's eye.

Jaune pulled out a large fire dust crystal from his pack. When he looked back up to the grim, its hoof was already stomping downward, this time to crush him from above. Jaune defiantly crushed the red crystal in his hand. The fire licked around his aura before it traveled the length of its connection up into the earth cloud near the grim's face.

Jaune grinned as the first ignition of the dust explosion. "Nora you beauty." He pulled himself closer to his sword and the heat exploded from the instant ignition of pollen, cotton and grass in a small compressed aura bubble.

Jaune lost his hearing. The loud high pitched whine was all that flooded his ears. He stood up uneasily to see the grim was on its side and thrashing.

Jaune quickly pulled his sword and started to run before those giant feet tried to kick at him. Jaune spotted Nora and grinned as the ringing slowly began to fade. Nora slowed her pace to let him catch up, but neither stopped to survey the damage. Nora breath finally began to filter in to his hearing. He glanced over to her to see she grinned at him.

"Can you hear yet?"

"Sorry. It's just coming back."

"Good. I don't think I wanted you to hear what I said anyway." Nora blinked something away from her eyes as they continued their run.

Behind the two, the grim snarled as it stood back up to chase them.

-o-

Jaune looked ahead of them. The grim had been in pursuit for the last hour in an unrelenting march. Jaune felt winded but the aura was keeping him moving. "Give me your hand Nora."

Jaune did not need to look to know she was beginning to tire. Wordlessly Nora reached out and felt her legs feel instantly lighter. She inhaled a deep breath as she made a long single stride before she began to pick up speed. "Thanks. How close are we?"

Jaune shook his head. "Don't know. We'll be running on top of it before we see it."

Nora grunted as she kept pace to Jaune's speed. Behind her she could see the grim follow. They were slowly pulling away, but with its improved vision they were never out of eyesight. "Don't think about it Nora." She chastised herself.

Another hour of running and they had slowed down to a jog to keep moving. Their aura was recovering, but neither of their bodies had trained to long distance running in the open. It was only their immediate survival that spurred them on that choice. The grim was barely a mile behind them and keeping speed. Very soon they will have no choice but to sprint to make distance, _again._

Jaune exhaled. "We're here." He slowed and caught Nora before she could go further. She had not been looking at the ground closely and could have easily ran off the edge of the gap. The gorge was barely twenty feet wide but it was easily forty feet deep. A slow looking river flowed at the bottom with patches of bushes lined one side.

Jaune let himself catch his breath. "Go ahead and get in Nora. I want to make sure we lose it. Start following it east. Give me a good mile. The grim can collapse this."

Nora gave a frustrated groan. He was doing it again, but knew it was the right choice. He simply had more aura. "You better catch up."

Nora jumped down and landed in a heavy crouch in the bushes. "The water is shallower than it looks. We must be in the dry season."

Jaune above her called out, "Thanks for the heads up, now get your ass in gear and move."

Jaune took the time to collect himself. It had been a harrowing few days. This should be the last time. Their scrambled plan worked better than he had hoped. The grim was far more south and away from the caravan. They could just leave it here now.

Jaune exhaled and let the aura he pulled in pool out to the ground. Again he inhaled and it pulled into his body one more time before he exhaled to push it out. Jaune kept this pattern. Each time the aura pushed out further along the edge of the gorge and toward the grim.

The massive pair of horns dipped low as it got within a few hundred meters. Its nose grazed the ground, breaking earth in a line that led directly to the huntsman.

Jaune sank to his knees. He screamed and thrust his arua into the earth. The burst of aura raced along the path in the ground where it had spread into a thin layer of earth a hundred meters long. Jaune gripped his aura and raised his hand. A layer of fine earth flew into the sky creating a wall of dust.

The grim was far too committed to its low charge and ran through the wall. It turned its head to find its prey only to find the lingering dust fall harmlessly to the ground. It looked around and kicked in rage as its prey disappeared.

-o-

Jaune wheezed and clutched his lungs. He ignored the shake of the gorge walls he clung to. It would only be luck if the grim did not see the crack in the earth. Jaune could see how the grim could miss a gorge when covered by the wall of dust as cover. But it would be another thing if the grim never found it at all. _I just have to pray it really kept charging for a bit before it noticed I wasn't there._

As the minutes turned into half an hour Jaune was optimistic. He kept moving and only relaxed when he heard Nora's voice. "Jaune!"

Jaune looked up and through the fading filtered light above them, he could see Nora run back when she saw him. "Are you hurt?"

Jaune shook his head. "Just pulled a chest muscle somewhere. It hurts to breathe. Too low on aura to try and heal it."

Nora hugged the dirt covered man and sighed. "I found a small spot to camp. If that thing isn't following us by now we can rest for the night."

Jaune wrapped an arm around her and leaned into her shoulder. "That sounds nice."

Nora smiled as she ruffled the dirt out of his hair. "You are so washing that out before you eat."

-o-

Jaune rubbed Nora's back and looked up to the small bit of sky that he could peer from the bottom of the gorge. Parts of the wall jutted out in different spots making it hard to see the fading light in the sky. The floor shook again. The grim had continued to move around to look for them. Jaune closed his eyes when the rumble came closer. It was not too much louder than it had been before, but the intensity of the shakes made him grip his hand that rested on Nora's shoulder.

Nora hugged him back as they laid close to the wall where the gorge covered them from the sky. The small bit of cover was the safest place for them at the moment. The grim would not be able to see them even if it looked directly down.

The walls shook then stopped for a moment. The loud thrum vibrated the walls in slow long beats. Jaune tried to make sense of it before the light from the top of the gorge blotted out. The whole section of the gorge was covered by the shadow of the grim. Gusts of hot breath rushed through the gorge as the grim pressed its nose against the edge a few hundred meters south of them. The steady beat against the rock face drew louder. That was when Jaune realized it was the grim _breathing_. The hot breath of air started moving closer to them. Nora and Jaune stood strong against the gust of air as the grim released a frustrated roar that made loose dirt from the ledge of the top slide over the edge.

The wind suddenly gusted downwards before a breath of air sucked the air upwards. The rumble of the grims throat vibrated their bodies. Nora and Jaune pressed against the wall hard to try and make themselves smaller. When the grim pressed its nose further into the gorge Nora inhaled sharply.

Jaune looked down when Nora sniffed and ducked her head lower at the agitated breath of the grim. Jaune lifted her chin so they could see each other eye to eye. He was too afraid to say anything, a thoughtless word would unleash their anxiety and fear. It would allow the grim to find them as surely as aura would.

Instead, Jaune leaned forward and kissed her. Nora seemed startled but relaxed into it. The pair gave one more chaste kiss where Jaune whispered in a breath of a whisper, "Concentrate on me."

Nora eagerly met his lips one more time. Nora leaned in to Jaune as their bodies pressed flush to each other. The rumbling continued for lord knows how long. Nora just felt the heat between them. The grim slowly moved away, disappointed that it found nothing. The wind continued to move along the gorge further away from them.

It was Nora who pulled away first. Her rosy cheeks crimson and she smiled at him before she pressed her head to his shoulder. Just as quietly as Jaune, she whispered, "Thank you."

Jaune did his best to ignore the raised hairs on his neck. The two sat in the warmth of the moment. The crash of earth near by brought him back to reality.

The earth rumbled hard once before it continued to move beyond them. The grim did not seem to give up on finding them.

Jaune just hoped that when night came, they could maybe skip the camp and just move to escape for a few hours. Jaune placed a finger to his lips and looked at Nora. He gestured to the bags and patted his hand downwards to wait. She nodded and slowly grabbed her bag and Jaune grabbed his. The both took to the same cover of the wall and waited for the sun to set. The rumbling continued. Jaune watched as the night turned dark. Jaune did not need to see Nora's face to know he was as tense as she was. The grim was still _moving_ after dark.

Jaune pulled Nora closer and the two stood perfectly still as the earth shook less and less. Late into the dark night they could no longer feel the faintest trace of the tremors. Jaune exhaled after another twenty minutes when he decided they had waited long enough.

Jaune looked down to Nora. She seemed content to breathe into his shirt. She rubbed her forehead for a moment before she looked up. She looked exhausted.

Jaune pulled them away from the wall. "Let's get you some food Luv."

Nora squeezed him before she pulled off his pack. Then quickly pushed him slightly away. She lit two flashlights as she teased. "Not before you wash up. You smell horrible."

Nora's weak smile was just enough to push Jaune to laugh. Nora followed. It was as much to let go of the tension they felt for hours as it was for anything else.

This deep into the gorge there was no drift wood to start a fire. Nora had found a part of the gorge that had split for their camp. The higher of the two splits had less water and looked to be an older water path that dried out. Jaune had long since washed himself and sat shirtless to let his clothes dry. He gently scratched his beard to get rid of some moisture that pooled there. Nora leaned against him in a loose shirt. The rest of her clothes had been hung along with his. It had been the first time in days either of them had been able to properly bathe in water.

Jaune let his arm drape around Nora's shoulders. He felt more than heard it when Nora whispered, "I'm glad you are safe."

Jaune leaned down as she looked up. The look of fear in her eyes made him pull her closer. Wordlessly he simply held her and kissed her lightly on the lips. "We are both safe now."

Nora trembled slightly as the shock of the last few days began to set in. There were so many times they could have lost one or both of them. And they still were not completely safe. They wouldn't be until the grim was dead.

Jaune heard Nora sniff and cough back a cry. He felt like doing it too. Instead he let his aura go. His aura was nothing like the one used to draw the grim. It was like candle light and a gentle hand. He let it flow and entwine with hers. Nora clutched to his side and leaned into his warmth. "We'll be ok Nora."

Nora nodded and exhaled a soft sigh. It seemed to be the last tense string before she fell asleep.

Jaune leaned his head against the wall. He could still feel their aura combine and twirl in a slow dance. Jaune pulled his aura back. Still feeling the glow of their shared aura, he allowed himself to close his eyes and truly sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora and Jaune are just able to take a breath before they discover the reality of the situation.

Nora awoke in the predawn hours. She blinked and immediately groaned as every stiff muscle cried out in protest. Jaune was already awake. She did not know when she was laid down with his cloak as a pillow. She was just thankful for the extra time to sleep.

"What time is it?" Nora asked while she rubbed her eyes.

Jaune had been busy this morning. The camp had already been packed and his scroll was open as he tried to scan through the frequencies. Jaune looked away from his scroll and smiled at her. Her boyfriend took that as his cue to turn on a small burner with a bowl full of water and oats. "It's nearly six."

That woke Nora up. She hadn't slept in that late since they started the trip. "And nothing from the grim?"

Jaune smiled. "Not even a thump. The only problem is we need to go topside to find out what direction it went."

Nora stretched and went to the lower stream to wash water on her face to wake up. She returned with her hair damp and tied in a knot high on her head. She paused when she noticed Jaune's frown. "What's wrong?"

Jaune shook his head and sighed. "I feel like the huntsmen should have been here by now."

Nora watched as he closed his scroll and handed her a bowl of oatmeal. Nora ate quickly. With the grim gone, she was eager to start the journey to see her kids. "How far away from the ridge are we?"

Jaune untucked a map and followed it down south. "If we are where I think we are, we dragged the grim over a hundred miles south east. On foot that could be a good distance for normal people, but for huntsmen on foot much less airships, they should have been able to follow the grim trail easily. I was kinda hoping I would wake up to the sound of airships above us."

Nora gave him a single well disbelieving laugh and pushed his shoulder before she went back to the stream to wash her bowl. Over her shoulder she smirked, "You just didn't want to run back the whole way."

-o-

Nora took the lead with Jaune navigating the pair towards the eastern mountain range. They had already reached the foothills but they were so far south, it would take another two days before they could even see the faint trails of human travel roads. Amidst Jaune's grumbling about the distance, he admitted that was a good thing. Nora wished he would put away his scroll, or leave the open channel alone.

Now that they were no longer running for their lives, Nora knew that no signs of a hunting party was a bad sign.

The day passed in a steady run. Jaune had mentioned they should start looking for some kind of water to camp by hours before sunset. The maps have swaths of this region unexplored. They were too deep into the frontier. Nature and grim had reclaimed these lands hundreds of years ago. Occasionally Jaune and Nora could recognize the signs that there was once a city at some point as they ran across the ground. The ground was flattened to just dirt and hills. The earth beneath their feet was broken stone and filled in dirt. It was the only way they would have known something else used to be there.

Jaune called for them to stop. Nora let herself slow to a walk and looped back towards him in a small circle. Sweat drenched down her neck and her back. They had been running for hours. "You find something?"

Jaune nodded. "I think I finally know where we are on this map. This section of the plains used to be part of an old city before the color revolution. We should be a day and a half away from the caravan."

Nora sighed in relief. "Do you think the grim really back tracked?"

Jaune was unsure of that himself. With the land so flat, there was no real way to tell with a stride a few hundred meters long. "We're making a bee line straight for the caravan. We haven't seen any tracks yet. My only concern is how fast it can move now that it doesn't need to rest at night."

"Here's hoping we have a little bit of good luck." Nora thought of her kids and nodded. The idea of seeing them tomorrow gave her her second wind. "Let's get going then."

Jaune stood up and put away the map. They both picked up speed with assurances they were going the right way.

-o-

Jaune stood watch as Nora set up a fire. This high on the hills, air was going to get cold the darker it got. Jaune gave a silent swear when they did not find a stream to camp next to. It was all dry hills as far as they could see. The most they could make of shelter was a wall of a jagged section of the hill that had eroded years ago but was dry as a bone now. That unconsciously made Nora lick her dry lips. The wind had done a number on a crack on her upper lip that tried all day to heal only to reopen from the dry air.

Nora patted her hip where her canteen was. They had to keep their water canteens for an emergency. If they wanted to find water they would have to drop down the hills to just try and find something. It wasn't an ideal situation when dusk was already on them.

Jaune blamed himself. He had been preoccupied with listening for the grim and signs of a hunting party that he didn't even notice when the sun turned the sky red. Nora had to cut in and suggest they find a place to camp.

Nora inhaled deeply as she opened her eyes. She resisted the urge to yawn. It was still dark. Now that the grim could move at night, they both thought it best that they take turns to stand watch. Thankfully, she woke up on her own. The last thing she wanted for Jaune to sit guard the whole night. He's done it enough times to the team when they have traveled together.

Nora spotted Jaune sitting in front of the fire. His eyes closed, but the subtle signs of alertness were there. His eyes moved quickly under their lids. His breathing was steady and he hummed occasionally. Nora sat up and rubbed his upper arm in comfort and looked to the stars. Nora checked her scroll. It was still four hours to sunrise.

Jaune opened his eyes and exhaled slowly. Nora felt him as he pulled his aura back towards his body. Huntsmen learned the ability to sense for nearby grim. What Jaune was doing was different. He seemed to have been training. Nora ignored the questions she wanted to ask why he was doing that now.

Instead, Nora smirked. "My turn!" she cheered. Jaune blinked his eyes and surveyed the darkness one more time.

"Already?" Jaune stood up the same time Nora pulled off his cloak and stood up.

Nora grunted. "Yeah. I slept long enough. It will be daylight in a few hours. You need to rest too buster."

Jaune nodded and let Nora wrap his cloak around him. Jaune eyed Nora's hand as it moved over his cheek and near his mouth. He leaned in and kissed it in appreciation.

Nora pulled the cloak closed tightly around his shoulders. "See you in the morning." She pecked him quickly on the lips before she moved to the fire and tossed another piece of dried wood.

When she felt Jaune had finally settled to sleep, she moved slightly so she could actually see him. It took her a moment and when it did, she felt her stomach flutter. That little bit of optimism seemed to come back to her. Up until now, life with Jaune had always been about the kids. For the first time since they became a couple, they were alone together. She allowed herself to imagine what it would have been like if it had been her and Jaune from the beginning.

She still had fond memories of Ren. She knew she loved Ren. Jaune had just found a different spot in her heart to take. She would never regret her time with Ren nor the gift he gave her that were their children. But like this, and finally safe, Nora allowed herself to imagine and dream what could have been.

She shook her head ruefully and stood up. She let her aura open to her surroundings. She did not expect to sense anything but she should at least do her job.

Nora was eager to see her children again. She knew she had always been codependent on someone. Jaune was definitely that someone now. But for most of her life that had been Ren. When he was gone, it was poor Mez. Nora was afraid that was why Mez was so mature for an eight year old. Mez seemed to have taken it all in stride. He was such a mix of mature observations and childish stubbornness it was hard to tell. Both of her kids seemed to share that trait unfortunately... Nora really wished to see them soon.

Nora was finally satisfied with her sweep and walked back to the camp. The lone fire in the middle of a soft curved hill would be a beacon to wild animals. Luckily for her and Jaune that there was no water. The animals were few and far between.

When the sun finally broke the sky, Nora checked her scroll with a frustrated sigh. She quickly went about to make sure the burnt out fire was completely out and started to clean up their mess. Soon the pit was gone and the three dirty bowls were back in her bag. They would have to wash them on the next camp site.

Nora squatted next to Jaune and gently rubbed his shoulder. "Jaune."

The man grimaced and looked up. He noted the sky and sighed a satisfied look at Nora.

Nora giggled. "Sleep well sleepyhead?"

Jaune nodded as he got up and folded his cloak. "It was good." He looked around the site. "Thanks for closing camp. Did you look at the map yet?"

Nora shook her head. "I would guarantee I would have us going the wrong way Jaune. I am trusting you to make sure we don't get lost."

Jaune coughed out a laugh and pulled his bag up to pull out a few strips of jerky. "Let's get going if you are ready."

Nora heartily agreed with him. She was ready for this to be over.

-o-

Their estimation was off. The caravan trail was further than they had realized. But that didn't matter.

Jaune's hand nearly snapped to his scroll as it buzzed to life on his chest. " _Repeat- sup- beacon to-"_

Jaune started running, "We need to clear the hills!"

Jaune led Nora around a sloping animal path back down the hill. Their trail had let them deeper towards the mountain range than they would have liked. But it was chosen because it was a clear path with few obstacles. Now that they started to receive a signal from a search party, they needed to get back into the plains to clear the interference.

"This is Jaune Arc from Mason Village Stall Team. We are in the hills and traveling due west to clear the range for a stronger signal." Jaune repeated the message two more times before he set it back in its holster.

" _Confirmed, west bound out of- try- twenty minutes."_

Nora grabbed Jaune's hand and nearly pulled him along as she picked up speed down the hill.

Nora looked over her shoulder. A wide eager smile graced her lips. Jaune simply laughed and tried to keep up without falling. His fingers were firmly laced in hers.

Thirty five minutes later, the scroll blared to life three times before Nora set her bag down and waited.

"Confirm, beacon activated and flare deployed."

" _Confirmed, visual contact confirmed."_

"It's good to see you Sentry-Four." Jaune said into his scroll. His free hand gripping a signal flare as he waved it over his head.

" _It's good to find you whole Stall Team One."_

Nora and Jaune quickly ran to the bull head and boarded. Jaune pulled out his map. He still had a job to do. "Has it been spotted in the last twenty four hours?"

"No." Called a young woman in her early twenties. She looked to have been barely out of an academy. Her cap pulled her hair taunt behind her. "Do you have a last sighting?"

Jaune and Nora quickly recounted what they saw two days ago until they lost it. The woman compared their own map to Jaune's and found where they actually were when they lost it. "That's nearly two hundred miles south than we are looking." The woman banged her hand against the bull head to get the pilot's attention and called an order into her mic before she addressed them again. "We are heading to Namuri now. Your caravan made it safely two days ago."

Nora blinked back a relieved tear. Jaune wrapped his arm around her. "Any word about our kids?" Jaune asked gently.

"With the other kids and properly distracted. We have a few guardians watching over them." The woman smiled. "We have started to set up a defense at the foot of the mountain. It is still fifteen miles away from the village, but your village isn't the only one that spotted the grim. Three others are occupying Namuri. We are sure it will be a target. It is why it took us so long to get here."

Jaune understood. "You found villages that needed to be flown by air."

The woman nodded. "As the first village to spot it, Mason's caravan had a four day lead on the grim. They simply had a few huntsmen to sense danger as escort."

Nora pulled her face from Jaune's chest. "Thank you."

The bull head lurched as it made a spinning descent around a mountain. Jaune and Nora saw that Namuri was a village buried inside a mouth of a mountain and spilled out to a flat shelf of land. Dozens of large tents were erected outside the mouth and three other bull heads were in various stages of landing.

Jaune kept on hand on a handle above him to steady himself and the other around his girlfriend to keep her balanced. He tightened his grip when he saw people run around the landing. The village had been converted to a base.

-o-

Nora knew this would happen but it didn't ease the frustration. They were surrounded by medical staff to examine their condition and at the same time an impromptu meeting with the Operation staff started. Nora sighed after she ate her fill. She looked at her arm in dismay. There was no way to speed up the IV drip nor the meeting so she had to wait for it all to run its course. The meeting took an hour and every detail on the grim was recounted. Even things they thought they had explained in detail were nit-picked to make sure there was nothing that could have been missed.

To the coordinator's and his company's credit, they were incredibly respectful and deferred to their experience against the grim the few times Jaune would point out the grim's behavior to several potential plans.

Finally the coordinator, some frazzled man who Nora had instantly forgotten the name to, let them go and asked if they would be on standby for consultation. Nora was ready to chew the guy out if he suggested if they go back out there. More so if she had to before she saw her children again. He was quickly able to squash that concern. As far as they were concerned their fight was over.

Jaune held her hand and squeezed it while they were escorted to the civilian camp.

-o-

Nora stopped at the door way inside the house. Any urge to find her children were relaxed for the first time when she spotted Syf playing with two other girls her own age. Nora still felt the urge run into the room and pick her up. But she also enjoyed the moment seeing her little girl play with other little girls her own age. She looked around for Mez. Jaune found him right away and pointed to a section where an impromptu library of books out of a stack of packed boxes sat on the floor. He read quietly among two older kids.

A moment later Mez's aura must have caught a whiff of them. He looked up. "Mom!" His book was forgotten as he sprung to his feet. It was like a firework ignited in the room. Syf looked up and screamed and ran to them both.

Nora blinked back tears. "I missed you two so much!" Nora knelt and hugged them tightly. Jaune knelt and wrapped his arms around them all. Jaune stayed silent but he could not stop the sudden relief of being with everyone together again. The rest of the room was forgotten for minutes until the kids ran out of steam.

Nora looked up among red eyes and spotted a few kids who understood and went back to their own distractions. A few of the older ones around twelve realized who they were and shuffled anxiously before an older man waved them back to their own things.

Nora closed her eyes and kissed the crown of her children's hair in turn. "Let's go to another room. Where are you two staying?"

Nora took Mez's hand and Syf had a death grip hold around Jaune's neck forcing him to carry her with one arm.

-o-

The room the children were given was actually in a house that was commandeered from a poor family who were moved deeper into the mountain tunnel for protection. Several groups of children lived there with two adult older men watching the house.

Jaune knew right away it was a house for all the children of aura users. He greeted the two overseers. Each man had a solid mature pressure of aura that exuded from them both. Jaune was surprised there were so many kids. He wondered how many huntsmen actually came.

Jaune brought two glasses of water into the kids room that they shared. Jaune and Nora would join them tonight. He was not sure if the accommodations would change tomorrow. Jaune didn't care to ask. He did not want to leave the sight of the kids for now. Jaune set both glasses of water on the nightstand. The kids seemed to have exhausted themselves and were both dozing against Nora's side.

Nora looked up and smiled at him before she patted the other side of the bed. Jaune eyed the sliver of bedding for his space skeptically. "This is going to be a tight fit tonight."

Nora giggled. "I feel like if either of us takes the floor they will just go to the floor too." Nora let her head lean against his shoulder. A satisfied sigh escaped her mouth. "Did you find Bose?"

Jaune let his cheek rest on top of Nora's head. "Yeah. He was apologetic. But the huntsmen took over as soon as the camp was made. I told him it was fine and I was thankful."

Nora felt her mind drift. There were so many days of concentration. The fatigue had caught up to her days ago. She only allowed her aura to relax now to let the mental exhaustion kick in. "Do you mind if we just sleep like this?"

Jaune ran his hand over Syf's head. He inhaled Nora's hair and nodded his cheek against her temple. "I don't mind. Sleep Nora. If the kids wake up I'll figure it out."

Nora's eyes became heavy and she fell asleep to a soft breath of an exhale from her mouth. Jaune kissed her temple. Jaune took a few minutes to look at the kids then to Nora. He tilted his head back and relaxed to allow sleep to claim him. He remembered blinking once before he knew nothing more.

-o-

"Confirmed sighting. We are a go."

" _Good luck. Probe team."_ The communications line cut off and the permissions were relayed to the crew in the ships. The pilot pulled the stick back and the ship ascended. The six bullheads that flew in formation followed. Inside huntsmen checked their gear and lined up to exit the bull head for a jump onto the grim.

The lead person gripped his side of the pike and looked to his partner. The rabbit faunus nodded her head and jumped with him. In the air the leader thought that the moonless night was the biggest factor in the composition of the team. All but two of the huntsmen that jumped from the bullheads were faunus. In pairs they clutched a giant metal spike with handles and a dust burst engine at the back. It was designed to break the grim armor and allow for real damage to be inflicted to the grim. Without them, it was worthless to open fire on a grim this size. You would have better luck leveling a mountain with ammunition.

The four lead pike wielders activated their pikes and prepared to touch down on the grims back. As soon as they activated their aura to land, the grim bucked wildly. The mass of the grims back raised high into the air. Several pairs were not ready and crashed fatally into the grims plated back.

The lead huntsman survived only because his aura was the first to activate. "Release pikes! Abort!" The grim cried a roar that vibrated the body and froze the huntsmen that fell from the sky.

-o-

Mez blinked his eyes open. His mother's arm clung to his shoulder and he leaned back down to close his eyes. He felt like he had woken up every few hours to check to make sure his mother was still there. Mez realized dad was gone though.

Mez scrunched his face and tried to muster the will to not find out where his dad went. But his mind decided now was not the time to go back to sleep with dad missing. He slowly slid out of moms arm and off the bed. Barefoot, his feet padded out of the room and down stairs. The other kids were already in the living room playing some organized game with the watchers.

That meant he missed breakfast. Mez turned his head and scanned the rooms and then to the kitchen.

"Morning Mez."

Mez looked up to see the overseer. "Good morning Mr. Cew." After a pause, Mez asked, "Have you seen my dad?"

Mr. Cew raised an eyebrow. "He left early this morning, kid. He went to see the injured."

Mez looked confused. "Wha?" in a rare moment of surprise Mez had no other words.

The olderman laughed. "You didn't know? Your father is a healer. He'll be back this afternoon I'm sure. There's food for your family when you are ready. Let your mother know that if they need anything, just ask."

The man walked off to join the group of kids.

Mez slouched his shoulders in confusion before he went back up stairs. Out of a sense of familial duty, he woke up his mom and told him where dad went to. Nora nodded quickly and nudged Syffie until she looked to her brother then mom.

Their mother simply got up and told them to bathe before breakfast. Mez reluctantly pulled Syf along. Water was rationed so they had to share the bathtub. After seven minutes of bubble suds, their mother shooed them out. Once they were gone she was finally able to disrobe and soak in the lukewarm water in peace.

Mez sat at the table eating his breakfast with his sister. His mother did not seem surprised that dad was missing. Mez vowed to ask more about dad later.

-o-

Jaune raised his hand and sighed. The woman's face was less pinched and her breathing no longer wheezed. The doctor who monitored Jaune's patients gave him a nod before Jaune stood back up to move to a bench to take a break. Jaune now had an idea how many huntsmen rallied to the call. The medical tents put it into perspective. Jaune was rightly embarrassed with thinking how long the hunting party took to organize just a day ago.

It seemed like every huntsmen on the continent had come to their aid. More still were landing outside at the base of the mountain. The village turned more into a place for wounded and children rather than their base of operations. Jaune had been informed they found the grim around three in the morning. Teams were quickly organized to attack in the darkness to test its vision.

Like he had guessed, it had little problems with the night and the probing party was quickly pulled back but not without casualties. Three dead and eighting people injured. All and all, Jaune thought it was a success if they were able to get any information from the attack. Jaune had not seen anymore injured come in during the day. He hoped that was a good sign.

"Here you are."

Jaune looked up and gave a small relieved grunt. It was Nora. "Hey gorgeous. How are the kids?"

"Finally playing with kids their own age." Nora smiled. She spread her arms and waved her hands for him to come closer.

Jaune laughed and embraced her. After a moment he asked, "Any word from command?"

"None. They'll come get us if they need any more information. But I think they got what they wanted from us. Any more injured?"

Jaune shook his head. "This was from the probing during the night attack. If there were any more they may not even come back until tonight. Actually I should be sleeping now in case they do."

Nora nodded and pulled him out of the medical tent. "Get some food and go back to the room. The logistics guy is trying to find us a place to sleep as a family and leave the house to the kids and caretakers."

Jaune gave a tired "mhm. What are you going to do?"

Nora placed her hands on her hips and smirked at him. "Just going to look around and see what I can do. There's more to a hunting party than the front lines."

Jaune nodded and gave her a kiss. "See you this evening then."

Nora watched him go before she started to head towards the entrance of the village. That logistics guy has got to have something for her to do.

-o-

"Dad?" Mez quietly poked into the room.

Jaune flinched at the daylight from the window as he sat up. "Yeah Mez?"

"Someone is here to see you. They are downstairs."

Jaune nodded and got up from the bed. "Ok. Thanks Mez." Jaune yawned as Mez stood there and watched him. "Hm? Something the matter Mez?"

The boy shook his head. "It can wait."

Jaune nodded and patted the boy on the head. "How are Syf and your mother?"

Mez followed him out of the room. "Syf is still playing with the other kids outside. I haven't seen mom all day."

Jaune nodded. "She was going to see if there was anything she could do to help around here. We may change sleeping locations so can you make sure your and Syf's things are organized to pack up? You don't need to pack anything right now. Just make sure all of your things are together in the room."

Mez nodded. "Ok. Are you going to be gone all night?"

Jaune spotted the man at the foot of the stairs as he went down. "That depends on what they have for me. I'll see you soon Mez." Jaune patted his head.

Mez watched as his dad spotted Syf and decided to not say goodbye. Mez looked over to the girl who seemed to have the time of her life with the three other kids her own age. Mez was not sure why Jaune didn't get his sister but knew it was related to her playing.

Only after his dad was long gone did Mez go back to his book and looked around the room. It was quiet in doors for once. It was a sunny day outside but he really had no reason to go out and speak to kids older or younger than himself. After sitting there restlessly for a few minutes he didn't know why it felt uncomfortable for him to sit there by himself. "I guess I should look for Syfs toys to put back in our room…"

-o-

Jaune nodded to Nora when he walked into the office room. Five maps strung across the walls. The first had pin drops in a trail. The second had 'x' marks in several positions. The final three were close up maps of the area. Each was marked to varying degrees.

"Thank you for joining us Mr. Arc."

"Of course." Jaune answered as Nora walked up to him and took his hand.

"We are currently in a skirmish with the grim as we speak. Command on site has deemed drop pikes are a no go. The grim's armor is too developed at this point for anything short of a Bastion cannon. Atlas is sending their fleet but it will be a week at best before they arrive. The grim has stopped growing in the last twelve hours. It is safe to assume that it reached full maturity."

There was a solemn tone to the comment. Jaune understood the feeling. The hardest fights were with the mature ones.

"How is the operation?" Nora asked.

"Dangerous. Your delay tactics worked well. When we found it, the grim had still been rummaging through your village. I'm afraid the village itself is gone."

Nora gripped Jaune's hand. The cabin. Nora didn't want to think that the home Ren built was gone. "It's ok Nora." Jaune whispered to her quietly.

The marshal continued. "It's making its way here. It had stopped at another small village where there were a few hold outs that did not evacuate. There were no survivors. We lost roughly seventy huntsmen and four bullheads to it before it decided to head in our direction. It's still two days out if we leave it alone. The onsight director had other ideas. Delay operations are commencing as we speak but we are getting ready to evacuate here too. Transport ships are on their way now. The mountain's natural cover will give us plenty of time but it will make things uncomfortable here until we get everyone out."

"What can we do for you Marshal?"

"The grim still bears the mark where it was hit before our initial attack. The eye never fully recovered, which gave us a chance to probe it for other weaknesses." The Marshal paused before he reluctantly admitted. "Weaknesses we were unable to find. Everything we are doing has not borne much fruit other than to discover it has a hesitancy to walk in the forests. I assume that was your doing."

Jaune smiled. "We did make it wary of taking the forest ground for granted."

"Do you think you can recreate the attack you left on its eye?"

Nora stirred. "You have to understand Marshal Racklyn. We had been doing combined aura attacks with my semblance for nearly a week to build up to that attack. Everyone one of my lightning attacks had gone through that side of its face. And after we built our largest attack it only left that scorched mark. I am not sure what more we can do to it."

The Marshal nodded, disappointed but not surprised. He murmured more to himself. "The grim seemed to be adverse to heat, not necessarily fire. Any idea's why?"

Jaune thought for a second. "The grim seems to remember a lot doesn't it?" He glanced at Nora and she caught on.

Nora let go of Jaune's hand and crossed her arms. "If it's formative time was spent with us, it may be sensitive to extreme heat from my lighting. That last explosion was something Jaune concocted with fire dust. We haven't had a chance to look at the mask since then. Are there any cracks?"

Marshal Racklyn nodded. "We thought that would be a perfect entry point but for that being its weak side, it is very protective of it. We can't get near it enough to the crack and use our drop pikes to break apart the mask. Other locations along the body were failures as well. The grim's body armor is thicker than the crack on the skull. Even when we try and place pikes in between the plates of armor, it's fast enough where it could buck us off before we can attempt to puncture the skin. I am sorry to say this grim literally reacts too fast for us to try and get a foothold."

Nora looked up to the sky then to Jaune. He nodded that he came to the same conclusion. "I have an idea on how I make it vulnerable. Jaune can help me make one or two strikes that could superheat the mask. It would make it more vulnerable to fracture so you can fire it at range. But we need everyone to clear the grim. No one can be near it or in the air. Jaune and I and maybe five people?" Nora asked unsure.

Jaune frowned. "It will be hard but I can handle ten for the both of us." He confirmed for her. "Plus a medical crew on stand by and three evacuation ships for us to leave immediately. We would probably all be out of the fight for the rest of it."

Nora looked at the map. "The problem is I need everyone to clear it to attack, but if they are back too far by the time they get back to the fight, the grim could recover."

The Marshall looked at the map. "I have a place where we could fall back to. Here." The man pointed to a range of mountains that had a steep drop off near where the grim would pass by. "We can have our bullheads fly low along the other side of the range wait for your attack and then go in."

"Will Operations accept the plan?"

Marshall Racklyn simply said. "I'll see to it. We will start as soon as I get permission. If you need to do anything before then, Now's the time."

Jaune let Nora wrap her arms around his torso as the Marshall left. "Our home..."

Jaune simply rocked her side to side. "It will be ok. We'll look. But…" Jaune knew that if there was no village there, there would be no point to still living in a cabin if it still stood.

Nora sniffed. "Let's go talk to the kids. We don't have much time."

Jaune stopped her and cupped her cheek in his hand. Her eyes were red and furrowed. "The kids are safe and alive. Focus on that."

Nora released a shuddered breath. She stayed silent intent on spending some quality time with her kids.

-o-

Mez knew something was wrong the moment his parents came in early. Syf happily explained what she did with the other kids. Nora was enraptured with the story while Jaune silently ate and watched the three of them. His dad looked at him and gave him an understanding look. He nodded once before he stood up and grabbed their plates.

When his dad came back he just leaned against the door frame and watched them. Mez knew that was normal for his father. But this seemed more of a longing look Mez had no way to put into words.

Eventually dad tapped mom's shoulder and pointed at the time.

"Ok Syffie, Let's save the rest of that story for tonight ok? Your father and I have to go help out with the evening huntsmen."

Syffie slouched but nodded. Before she could even look to Dad, he was already there and picked up the squealing seven year old and rubbed his beard in her neck. Syf giggled in alarm before she was set down on the ground.

"Make sure to eat something before you both go to bed. Alright? I don't know how long we will be. But your father says it will be an all nighter."

Their father nodded. "That's why I took my nap. If I don't see you tonight. I'll see you both in the morning. Love you two."

Nora knelt down and said the same as she squeezed her children.

Mez watched as they met with four men and women outside and made their way through the town and out of sight. Long after they were gone, Mez felt reluctant to move away from his post at the door while he waited.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora and Jaune go on their last mission.

The first grim appeared after Salem died sixteen years ago. It formed like a dark cloud south of the Vale capital. Nora remembered being told it was like a black fog that stayed over the sea for a week. When it formed, it was fully matured and left the ocean. It crawled over the mountain range on two legs dragging its body over the range like it was a simple hill. The open valley it created was still there and used as a passage for trains.

Nora had only taken part of the first Vale Defense late into the battle. That was a scramble of huntsmen and munition that lasted days against the grim that ripped through the capitals walls like paper mache. Nora had witnessed the destruction. She was there when it died.

But Nora never gave much thought to the attack after the grim died. It was enough she was there to help fight. Nora and Ren both had to hurry back to their original job when the grim was killed. She never did spend time among the city's aftermath. So she never learned details like it's voice had tainted the land for months. She never had to see that the people who lived in the area had to leave for a few years in the heart of the city. The unease after its death lingered.

Nora never meant to take the grims' death for granted. Like it's death would have been a forgone conclusion. But she did.

By the time Ren and Nora decided to settle down and get married, they had already moved to the frontier. The second and third attacks inside the country both had ended before they received word that there was even a threat. And again like the first, it was a foregone conclusion. When the fourth attack occurred, Ren volunteered without much thought. He was not even going to be a part of the main attack force, he would just be present to help evacuate a village that was in it's path. He would have days to get in and out…

Nora followed Jaune onto the bullhead. She could almost see the image of Ren doing the same all those years ago. Nora was left to her thoughts as the ship prepared to launch. Jaune was behind her with a team of volunteers. Jaune said they would just be in and out. There should be no chance of them being in any real danger. Nora hugged herself.

Ren thought the same.

Nora watched the village below her shrink from view as the bullhead took to the air. The small town was more of a military compound now. Bullheads lined the entrance as a makeshift barricade if it came to it. A few houses were torn down to make room for landing of aircraft in preparation of an evacuation. She could see how she had forgotten how serious the grim invasion was. How both of them thought so little of joining a hunting party. Ren had not even been training when he joined the defense. They had both long put away their weapons.

Nora no longer even had that. During a rough period when she had to get money fast right after Ren died, she sold her own hammer, Magnhild. She had always intended to get it back. But she was never in the right headspace to buy it. And by the time she could, it was long gone with the seller.

"When did Ren realize how serious it was? Ren must have felt like this when he joined his team." She murmured to herself.

Jaune looked up from the groups' map. "What was that Nora?"

Nora shook her head and simply rubbed her elbow. "Nothing Jaune. Just thinking."

Jaune gave her one more concerned look before he went back to the map. Nora watched him and did her best to not feel helpless. Jaune looked so at ease with it all. He could so easily slip in with the other huntsmen.

Jaune was always like that. He was just _ready._ And willing with everything he came across. She didn't realize she had given a fond smile for that thought. The bullhead made short work of the distance. Eighty miles flew by in minutes. The first step off the bullhead made her jump.

The vibrations were here.

The grim from the other side of the mountains could be felt even here. How large was it now? It has been a few days since she had seen it last. But had it stopped growing when they finally lost it? Or did it keep doing so until the hunting party found it?

The earth shook more as a thump against her boots. Nora was the first out of the bullhead and stopped several feet from the edge of the rockface. It looked out to the mountains. When she reached out with her aura she felt it and gritted her teeth as her knees nearly gave out in surprise.

So much malice.

Her eyes watered as if she smelled something rotten. With great effort she swallowed the bile that entered her mouth. Once she regained control she no longer felt the taint of the grim. Just the weight of its body against the earth.

The team of twelve volunteers moved behind her while Jaune explained what he was about to do to them. Nora ignored them. She trusted Jaune to do what he did best. Plan and do.

The loud hum of the grim echoed against the mountain ridges again. So loud that Jaune stopped talking to look. The rumble was so deep that it vibrated her body. Any snowy tops had long since collapsed from the vibrations of the grim.

Nora tuned them out. If she needed to do this, then she had to do it right and on the first try. Communications were sparse with the team ahead of them. But they had been slowly withdrawing. Nora felt her semblance and aura both react to her thought. Lightning crackled at her fingertips and snapped to the ground in arcs of light. The ground quickly singed black in a circle around her. When she looked at it she nodded. That was the dead zone.

She looked over to Jaune. Her voice jittered out. "I'm ready."

"Give me a moment." Jaune said to the volunteers. He quickly walked up to Nora and hugged her. He let his forehead touch hers. "I know it's hard Nora."

Nora nodded. She wanted to stop being a huntsmen years ago. She wanted to be away from it all and have a family. She wanted to see them grow old and enjoy her life as a normal person. She had done her job. She had fought more and seen more than most could say in centuries. It only grew more frustrating when she saw Jaune slip so easily back into being a huntsman. Like everyone else… Except for her and Ren. Were they so different?

Jaune's arms wrapped around her and silently held her.

Nora realized all too soon she had been crying. "God what must the others think." Nora sniffed and buried her face into Jaune's chest. "Some conquering hero." She chastised herself.

"Don't."

Nora looked up puffy eyed. "I-"

Jaune pulled back and smiled at her. "You are doing your best Nora. Your best saved Mez and Syf. It saved me. If you can't believe my words. Believe what you have done already."

Nora swallowed a sigh. "Why is this so hard for me? How come it comes so easy for you?" Nora bitterly regretted saying those words aloud. She knew she should have stayed silent. Somewhere deep in her heart she always felt like Jaune could leave her. Seeing him here amongst the other huntsmen. It reminded her what he gave up. What he could have been. What he could still do.

She could only raise her children. And she did not feel she even did that well.

"Because I would lose you if I fail."

Nora inhaled sharply and looked up. Jaune ran the back of his hand across her wet cheek. "You're everything to me Nora. I can only walk forward because I am afraid to lose you."

Nora smiled around tears and nodded. She sniffed and mouthed out the words _love you_. She kissed him once before he pulled her close for another. When they parted Nora blushed at the peanut gallery who seemed to have just taken it all in stride and silently let the drama unfold. Nora coughed to clear her through. "Ok side kick. I guess it's time to be a hero. Right?"

Jaune nodded as he mouthed out those same words. _Love you,_ and took a step back to touch the scroll that was latched to his chest. "This is Arc. Operation Bait and Switch is a go."

"Evac will be completed in ten minutes. Prepare to draw the grim Distraction Team."

Jaune looked to the group. "Now's the time to get you guys accustomed to it." Jaune looked to the volunteers with a smile. "Just like I showed you. Everyone's hands on mine." Jaune placed his hand out to them. The ten huntsmen reached for a place to grab his hand or forearm.

Jaune activated his semblance. The slow build of aura enveloped the entire group. "I'll stop practice here. But it's going to go faster and you will feel it gone instantly. If you feel like you're going to go faint, let go. We can't afford you to drag the group and have us break contact."

The aura that had built up slowly went back down to nothing. Soon it was just the group of men and women gripping Jaune's arm. He laughed. "You can let go now."

It was a much appreciated joke. Every one of the volunteers had been on the front lines but felt their particular skills would do very little to help. It reminded Jaune how fortunate he was to have gained a semblance that could always be useful.

Jaune thought back to himself just a few days ago, so sure that he would actually die buried in the earth. He would have if not for Nora's quick thinking and his own semblance. He looked to her as she seemed to focus on her own semblance. Strands of her hair would raise as she let the energy course through her. He had a lot to make up to her for. They both knew what could have happened when they volunteered to stall the grim. But he never meant to make Nora relive her worst memory.

"Distraction Team; You are a go. Grim is due west four miles. Good luck."

"Acknowledged." Jaune said as he closed his scroll.

"Hero time Nora."

Nora seemed so much calmer now that she had time to delve into her aura. It was controlled and shimmered across her eyes. She walked into the small scorched circle she made and out stretched her hand out to hover over the black ring at her feet.

Jaune's hand held her left hand. The grip was strong and it comforted her just as much as she thought it would. Jaune reached out the other way. His hands barely crossed the black ring. "Grab a hold. Make sure you never cross the black circle." he warned the group.

As one, each member of the team gripped a part of Jaune's hand, wrist, forearm. Whatever they could and still get a grip.

"Flare your auras." Jaune commanded. As one, the group flared in a vibrant white light.

Jaune swallowed as his body burned with the feedback of eleven additional auras attempting to harmonize. He picked out Nora's immediately as it seemed to seamlessly meld in with his own. The others never had to try and harmonize their aura. He was sure the concept was still foreign to them. Nora's aura matched his as it fluctuated and tried to match any member of the group. Jaune knew he was taking too long. The third person's aura seemed to finally sync after what felt like an eternity.

Nora laughed. "You're not trying to marry them Jaune. Just get them to follow along."

Jaune kept his eyes closed but laughed. "You're right." He had not realized he was trying to make them match Nora. He just needed to control their aura. "Sorry guys. Taking off the kid gloves now."

Almost immediately twelve aura's flared to life in a beacon. Jaune ignored the surprised gasps at the sheer amount of power the group felt.

"Alert: Distraction Team. Grim is moving in your direction."

Jaune's hands were full and could not respond even if he wanted to. Truthfully he was used to the aura from the grim. So when it began to affect the others, he was only aware thanks to the list of swears from the volunteers.

" _That's_ what you've been stalling?" There was a tone of awe from someone behind him in the group of hands. They were not the first that seemed to quiver against his arm. He ignored it in favor of forcing every aura that latched onto his to grow and become as refined as possible. Instantly he could tell who had been training for years and who had been slacking off. He could even tell who the older and younger members of the group were. Their arua reflected everything about each of them.

Jaune opened his eyes to steadily watch Nora. "This will hurt you Nora."

"I know. I'll let you know when to do it." She said with an air of authority she rarely used. Her focus was only on the grim as it closed its distance. "That is some crack you made there Jaune."

Jaune allowed himself to glance at the grim before he went back to focusing on Nora. The swelling of arua that was ready to run through him was held back only by his concentration. The mark on the mask was deeper than he anticipated. The mask was stained yellow and black. The crack was visible from this distance. How large was it that it ran the length of the grim's face?

"I'll cheer about it later. Is it getting close? I am not sure I can hold this for much longer." His vision flashed blinding white before he could refocus again. His own aura was working overtime to keep him and Nora protected from the energy he was preparing to channel.

"You can start channeling now. It's close enough."

Jaune's hand laced with hers. "If you feel like you will faint, let go." He reminded the group. The aura that flared around them suddenly blipped out of existence. Jaune cut off their connection to the aura and instantly matched the aura to Nora's. When Jaune and Nora's aura harmonized Jaune sent it over.

Nora exhaled. As the only person in JNR that had ever been able to send aura at a distance she had been used to Jaune and Ren sending her aura. She shook her head at Jaune's natural well of energy. It was still a sizable portion of what was sent over. "Look away. Keep your eyes closed and keep your mouth open." Nora commanded.

She raised her free hand and pointed her finger to the sky. Usually when Nora would use her semblance there would be a crackle of electricity that traveled from one point to another. With so much aura welling in Nora's body, she just needed to think _strike._

The world turned white for a fraction of a second. The grim staggered and fell. It's white mask a bright red that seared the grim's face.

Then the rumble of thunder caught up to them along with the Grim's roar of agony. Both shook the group. "I got one more." Nora said. Her mouth was charred and skin cracked at the corner of her lips. Her blackened fingertips raised it into the air once more. Nora glared at the grim. _This one is for my family._

The second strike pinned the grim to the ground stunned. Along with the groan that hit them seconds later, the loud crack of something breaking echoed over their heads. Behind her she could barely hear Jaune scream "Go! Go! Go! The mask is broken!"

Nora smiled at the job well done before she staggered and looked at her bleeding fingers. Her fingernails were chard and her fingertips cracked along the nails and the length of her knuckles. Jaune was suddenly holding her and laying her slowly down to the ground. Nora was not sure what else was being said. Her heart was beating erratically in her ears. Then her vision darkened.

-o-

When Nora awoke she was not sure what time of day it was, but it was definitely day. Even behind her closed eyelids it was too bright. She groaned slightly in protest. A familiar warm hand squeezed hers.

"Good morning gorgeous."

Nora croaked out a moan.

"Easy there. You've been asleep since yesterday."

Jaune had long been used to Nora over taxing herself. Instantly a doctor was next to her. "Mrs Ren, I am checking your heart. Just a moment please."

Nora blinked her eyes to get used to the light and saw the doctor Jaune worked with stand over her with a stethoscope. After a few requests to breath in and help her sit up to listen to her back, the doctor stood up and put away his tools. "When you were brought in, you gave me a scare. Arrhythmia is not something that is taken lightly. But your heart quickly recovered. Please stay in bed. A nurse will come by to give you some food while we monitor you."

Nora silently nodded. When the doctor was gone, she drank from the cup Jaune offered. "The grim?"

"Dead. As soon as the pikes had a place to land and anchor, the teams were able to do some major damage with artillery fire enhanced with a few semblances. The kids don't know we are back yet. We made it back to the settlement very quickly yesterday, but I figured we didn't need to let them know until after you had recovered."

Nora nodded. "Did you tell the doctor this was normal?"

"The doctor heard it but didn't believe it. Hence." He gestured to the bed. "In his defense, you were worse off than normal. You had me worried for a while too. I am sorry. It was a lot of energy to keep in check."

Nora shook her head that it was ok. She finally looked at her hands. She remembered her hand being black and bleeding. With Jaune's help her aura had already healed it. It felt weird that the largest lightning bolt she ever made did not leave any mark. "Where do we go now?"

Jaune sighed. "I-" Jaune scratched his head. "I've talked to some of the other members of Mason. They aren't going back. A few are, but only to attempt to collect a few personal effects. We can do the same." Nora rolled to her side to face him and sniffed.

"We should do it. It's just…"

Jaune touched her hand. "I know. Did you want to go back and see?"

Nora flinched but nodded. "But I don't want to take the kids with us." Nora rubbed her head and sighed. "I'll call Ruby. She always wanted us to visit."

Jaune and Nora had the family sit in their new shelter while they waited for an opportunity to send a call. This far out, and in the mountains, the village had only one dedicated communication relay. Jaune looked at the time and noticed it was their turn. He opened his scroll and tuned it to the local network. "Mr. Arc and Mrs. Ren to dispatch to Vale City."

The receptionist who was just seven blocks down the road nodded to them and crossed off their names from a list while their line was pushed into the international CCT.

Ruby answered immediately and looked at them sitting together. "You're ok!" She nearly cried in relief. "My team just got back from assignment when we heard the grim defense was being organized. Our group was going up soon when it was cancelled. I was worried when I heard it was in your direction." Ruby cheered on the scroll.

"It's good to hear you Ruby." Jaune cleared his throat. "Ruby? Um. Our cabin was destroyed by the grim…"

"Come over!" Ruby did not let him finish. "I got plenty of room. It's just me and I only have a place this big because Weiss only allowed me to have something so 'small'. Like she ever visits." Ruby pouted.

Jaune smile was awkward. "Are you sure? We don't want to put you out."

"Just pretend it's a family vacation and come over. You guys just need some time to find a new place right?" Ruby peered closer to the camera.

"Yeah… Thanks Ruby. You're awesome." Jaune finally answered.

"Any time!" Ruby answered cheerfully before she looked over her shoulder. "Just let me make the place presentable. I got one of Weiss's boys here preparing for Beacon. Widu! Get your rear and gear and clean up your weapons!" Instantly, Ruby snapped her head back to her scroll. "Just let us know when you get into Vale!"

The line went dead and Jaune scratched his head at how easy that was.

-o-

Jaune was happy that Ruby had been so helpful. The kids were clingy on the overnight flight to Vale. Nora had opted for the family to travel together on the huntsmen ship to drop the kids off before Jaune and Nora returned to the cabin.

"Aunt Ruby!" Mez and Syffie both hugged the older woman's hips.

The kids cheered and laughed while Ruby effortlessly picked up the two. It looked more impressive when a woman who was only five four picked up a couple of kids than when Jaune did it himself. Ruby happily spun them around before she called over her other guest. "Widu. You know Jaune. This is Nora, his teammate."

A young man with Weiss cheeks and posture reached out to shake Nora's hand. The young man would blend in with most people in Vale. But he was recognizable at first glance to everyone in Atlas. He was the only Schnee child with brown hair.

"Hello Ma'am."

Nora smiled. "It's a pleasure." She quickly turned to Ruby. "I'm sorry we have to drop them off. But with so many bullheads going to and from our sector, we should go now rather than wait and charter a bullhead."

Ruby waved it all off. "That's fine! I'll be dragging these kiddos shopping for more clothes tomorrow."

Mez had seemed to have caught sight of the wall of bookcases a few rooms down. His curiosity was piqued.

Nora hugged Ruby before Jaune did the same. Jaune stepped back and walked to the door. "We'll maybe take a few days. I'll give your scroll a call when we get back into Vale."

Ruby nodded and looked at the kids one more time before she gave Jaune and Nora the once over. "I heard what you guys did. I am happy to see you both ok."

The kids looked up curious what they were all talking about.

Nora did her best to not look at Mez. "We'll tell you all about it when we get back." She blinked a few times and looked to Mez and Syf. "You two better behave for Aunt Ruby ok? No sugar after dinner."

Ruby started laughing at the threat. "I'll be sure to front load any sugar to the morning Nora."

-o-

Nora was relieved they left the kids with Ruby. It wasn't just that the village was destroyed. The village sat at the top of a hill's edge. Most of that section of the hill was just gone. The grim had not just walked by. It had slammed its hooves into the village and scraped it off the map. What remained of the village was more akin to leveled ground with small spikes of wood that poked up from the surface.

Nora cried when she saw the cabin. It wasn't spared. Most of the house was part of a scar on the earth a hundred meters long.

Jaune held her for a moment while he looked at the cabin in mournful silence. It had been home for a while now. He stared at the broken smokestack of the furnace and remembered something. "Just a sec hun." Jaune kissed her temple before he let go and waded across the broken rocks of the foundation. Jaune was never sure Nora knew about it. And there never seemed to be a moment to ask. Not for something this personal. At the broken smoke stack, he pushed masonry to the side and found the remains of the support beam that held the bulk of the house. Jaune supposed Ren meant it as a time capsule. Something to bury and only pull out decades later for the two of them. "It's still here." Jaune said relieved.

Early on when Jaune had come to visit Nora, he had started to help around the house during the winter. Jaune had cleaned the cramped furnace room to have some wood stored under the house for the furnace. Jaune was alarmed when he found out that Nora in her exhausted wisdom had gone out late towards the edge of the yard every night to grab dried wood to throw on the fire.

After thoroughly cleaning the furnace room, Jaune found this metal box covered with soot from the furnace. He had only opened it once and vowed to tell Nora about it once she got better. As the years passed and it laid out of sight. He had forgotten about it.

Jaune carefully opened it and smiled that everything was still in good condition. Jaune stood up and walked out of the loose rocks and wood. "Nora. Here. I had found this ages ago but never found a good chance to tell you about it."

Jaune passed Nora the metal box. Nora examined the box. It was half crumbled from the weight of the house that fell on top of it.

"Jaune?"

Jaune smiled. "I always had a hard time bringing it up. And I actually forgot about it after a while."

Nora opened the box. Inside were a dozen still photos of the kids as babies. Half of them were with their mother. The other half were with Ren holding each of them. Nora sighed and closed the tin. She clutched it to her chest and looked to Jaune. "Thank you."

Jaune rubbed her shoulder. He let her have her moment while he looked at the field where he had worked. His equipment was destroyed. Clothes and anything personal that were actually on the main floor of the house were just gone. "There isn't much for us here Nora."

Nora nodded. "I'll still miss it. Both of you put so much work into it."

Jaune smiled and looked over the house remains. "I guess that means I got a lot of work to do then."

Nora giggled then stood up. "You are _not_ building a house Jaune." Nora exhaled and gazed at the picture of Ren with baby Mez. She shook her head thinking about Ren and then looked up to Jaune who was busy looking over the cabin one last time. Nora tugged on his sleeve. "Let's go. The bullhead can take us back early."

Jaune and Nora looked around one more time. Jaune didn't think either of them would come back after this. Really, the only personal things he had cherished were his sword and shield. And he was missing half of that now. This house had been Nora's world for years. "You're taking this better than I thought you would."

Nora walked around the debris and found a small part of what was once her jewelry box. Her wedding ring was long gone. Nora let the small piece of wood fall to the ground. "I think…" Nora looked around one more time before she walked back to the tin on the ground Jaune retrieved. "I think it's time to move on. I've wallowed in the past for too long. And I loved living in the house."

Jaune placed an arm around Nora's shoulders. "But?"

Nora smiled and looked to Jaune. "But it's time to think about the future. It's time to think about _our_ family."

Jaune smiled and then blinked when he noticed Nora's sly smile. "What?" With a dumbfounded voice. It slowly morphed into an equally surprised smile. "Are you serious?"

Nora giggled as she led him away from the house. "It's been on my mind for a while. But I think if I want to have any more kids, it has to be soon."

With a little bounce to her step she pulled Jaune by the hand to the bullhead landing. "After all, we can't stay young forever."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for reading Mr. Arc and Mrs. Ren. I had never been a shipper of NoraxJaune until I had written Will you stay. But I really do like the pairing now.
> 
> In keeping with tradition for everything in RWBY was based in fairytales, the nameless grim was based on the Ox from Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. I thought it was a fun idea since Jaune had essentially turned into a lumberman.
> 
> As for if there is a follow up, unfortunately for right now this is where Nora's and Jaune's story is going to end. As well as a break from RWBY fanfiction. I may share some one shots/reddit prompts I've written that I never shared here. But I think I want to take a break from writing RWBY and just enjoy watching the show for a bit. I developed a nasty habit of not watching shows until I finish writing a story arc in that fandom. So every season since season 5, I waited to watch RWBY until maybe 2 months after a particular volume had ended. I still haven't sat down and watched volume 8 up to the mid season stop.


End file.
